GIFT 
J.    II.    Gsmer 


GIFT  OF 
J.    H.    Osmer 


• 


BEADY. 


ul  Hit?  Jfljra 

TRACED  IN  THE  ARCTIC  OCEAN 

Being  a  narrative  of  the  voyage  made  by  the  screw  steamer  "  Fox," 
in  search  of  Sir  John  Franklin  and  his  companions.  By  Captain 
McClintock,  Commander  of  the  Expedition.  8000  copies  subscribed 
for  in  England  in  advance  of  publication,  at  $4  per  copy.  American 
Edition  only  SI.  1  vol.  12mo.  440  pages,  with  a  preface  by  Sir 
Roderick  Murchison,  F.  R.  S.  SIXTEEN  Illustrations  and  a  Map 
of  the  Arctic  Ocean,  showing  the  track  of  Sir  John  Franklin  and 
his  companions,  after  abandoning  their  ships,  in  their  dreary  march 
towards  "  Great  Fish  River,"  as  they  dropped  dead  one  by  one 
from  starvation  and  cold — their  bleached  bones  a  warning  to  all 
future  Arctic  explorers. 

A  RECORD  FOUND  WRITTEN  BY  CAPTAIN  FRANKLIN,  GIVING 

PARTICULARS  OF  THEIR  SUFFERINGS  UP  TO  THE  TIME  OF  HIS  DEATH 

IN  1847  j  also  the  record  kept  by  Captain  Crozier,  six  years  after 
Franklin's  death.  Skeletons  of  many  of  the  doomed  Arctic  explorers 
discovered  bleached  by  the  Arctic  snows ,  forming 

THE  MOST  INTERESTING,  TRUTHFUL,  AND  MELANCHOLY  NARRA 
TIVE  OF  ARCTIC  GLOOM  AND  ADVENTURE  EVER  PENNED. 

This  work  is  published  from  advance  sheets  of  the  English  Edition, 
verbatim  et  literatim,  which  sells  at  $4  in  London.  The  American 
Edition  selling  at  only  $1,  Library  style,  bound  strongly  in  cloth. 

^  To  those  who  have  sympathized  with  the  lost  Arctic  Explorer  and 
his  noble  wife  in  her  great  efforts  to  unravel  the  mystery  concerning 
the  fate  of  Sir  John  Franklin,  this  volume  will  be  a  rich  treasure. 
Few  can  read  this  simple  narrative  without  shedding  tears  at  the 
recital  of  their  dreary  and  hopeless  march  over  the  wide  fields  of 
Arctic  ice  and  snow  in  hopes  of  reaching  Great  Fish  River  ere  their 
last  morsel  should  be  consumed ;  how  they  perished  one  by  one  in 
their  tracks—their  heart-rending  record  handed  from  one  to  the  other, 
to  be  filled  with  the  history  of  their  sufferings,  in  hopes  that  eventu 
ally  their  friends  in  England  might  know  of  their  sad  end. 

THIS  BOOK  CLOSES  THE  ARCTIC  EXPLORATIONS  FOR  EVER, 
AGENTS  WANTED  IN  EVERY  DISTRICT  IN  AMERICA  FOR  THIS  WORK. 
Any  intelligent  man  or  woman  can  make  $5  a  day.  Sent  by  mail, 
free  of  postage,  on  receipt  of  price  c;end  lor  circulars  of  three  new 
looks,  now  ready.  Address 

J.  T.  LLOYD, 

Publisher,  Hew  York. 

In  P<m&r  Covers,  only  50  cts. 


LIFE  AND   ADVENTURES   OP  DE   SOTO.  399 


To  the  United  States  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of 
tlxe  United  States  of  America. 

YOUR  PETITIONER  respectfully  shows,  that  ho  is  the  Publisher  and  Pro 
prietor  of  a  new  work  recently  issued  in  Philadelphia,  and  London,  England, 
entitled,  "THE  LIFE,  TRAVELS,  AND  ADVENTURES  OP  FERDINAND  DE  SOTO, 
THE  DISCOVERER  OP  THE  MISSISSIPPI  RIVER,"  1  vol.  8vo.,  536  pages,  6  steel 
plates  by  JOHN  SARTAIN,  Philadelphia,  and  89  fine  wood  engravings,  by  J.  W. 
ORR,  New  York.  That  it  is  eminently  a  National  Work,  deserving  of  a  wide 
circulation  in  the  United  States,  and  should  be  placed  in  every  State  and 
Public  Library  in  the  country.  That  it  is  the  first  authentic  account  of  the 
discovery  of  the  mighty  Mississippi,  whose  waters  wash  nearly  one-half  of 
the  States  of  this  great  Republic,  and  whose  commerce  contributes  millions 
annually  toward  the  support  of  this  government.  That  the  work  traces  ont 
Do  Soto's  whole  route,  from  the  landing  at  Tampa  Bay,  Florida,  through  the 
entire  southern  country,  to  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi,  which  he  took  pos 
session  of  in  an  imposing  manner,  in  the  name  of  the  King  of  Spain.  His 
battles  with  the  many  ferocious  Indian  tribes  inhabiting  at  that  time  tho 
whole  South,  are  graphically  described.  Their  customs,  religion,  and  belief 
are  fully  narrated  by  the  author,  who  has  spent  many  years  of  his  life  in 
searching  the  monasteries  of  Spain  for  authentic  accounts  of  "De  Soto's" 
explorations  in  this  country,  and  many  facts  in  regard  to  the  extreme  cruelty 
of  the  early  Spanish  explorers  to  the  poor  Indians  are  for  the  first  time  given 
to  the  light  of  day  in  this  volume.  That  "  Do  Soto,"  as  is  shown,  was  basely 
poisoned  by  his  comrades,  in  order  that  they  might  return  to  their  nativo 
country,  and  escape  from  a  land  which  had  cost  them  so  many  trials,  hard 
ships,  and  extreme  sufferings.  That  the  discoverer  of  the  Mississippi  was 
secretly  and  silently,  at  the  dead  of  night,  taken  to  the  middle  of  the  great 
river  which  had  cost  him  his  life,  and  sunk  to  the  bottom.  That  his  com 
rades  attempted  to  escape  by  descending  the  Mississippi  in  rude  boats,  but 
were  pursued  by  myriads  of  savages  in  canoes,  and  nearly  all  were  slaugh 
tered. 

Your  petitioner  further  says :  That  there  is  no  account  of  this  interesting  his 
tory  of  the  "  Discovery  of  the  Mississippi,"  to  be  found  in  any  Library  in  Ame 
rica,  That  Congress,  to  commemorate  the  "  Discovery  of  tho  Mississippi," 
very  wisely  purchased  a  painting  of  the  same,  at  a  cost  of  $10,000,  and  placed 
it  in  the  Rotunda  of  the  Capitol.  But  how  much  more  important  to  the  peo 
ple  is  this  faithful  history  of  the  Life  of  De  Soto,  the  discoverer  of  that  great 
river,  than  a  painting. 

Therefore,  your  petitioner  prays  that  you  will  pass  a  Bill  for  the  purchase 
of  ten  thousand  (10,000)  copies  of  the  Life  of  De  Soto,  for  general  distribution 
among  the  various  State  Libraries.  THAT  YOUR  PETITIONER,  THINKING  MORE 

OF  GIVING  THIS  WORK  A  LARGE  CIRCULATION  THAN  MAKING  MONEY  ON  IT,  PRO- 

POSES  TO  SELL  THE  BOOK  TO  CONGRESS  AT  COST,  to  wit,  $1.50  per  copy ;  $2.50 
being  the  retail  price,  many  members  of  both  Houses  having  purchased  the 
book  at  that  price. 

By  passing  this  Bill,  you  will  confer  a  benefit  on  your  constituents,  and 
your  petitioner  will  ever  pray,  eto. 

J.  T.  L.L.OYD. 


THE  CHEAPEST  BOOK  IN  THE  WORLD, 


The  finest  Illustrated  Work  ever  issued  from  the  American  Press,  ana 
one  of  the  most  interesting  and  attractive  books  in  the  English  language. 

COST  THE  PUBLISHER  $12,000. 


THE  LIFE,  TRAVELS,  AND  ADVENTURES  OF 

FERDINAND     DE     SOTO, 

DISCOVERER    OF     THE    MISSISSIPPI. 

BY  LAMBERT  A,  WILMER. 

Five  Hundred  and  Fifty  octavo  pages,  Seventy-nine  admirable  En 
gravings  on  Wood,  and   Six  superb   Steel  Plates.     All  of 
these  embellishments  were  executed  by  the  most  cele 
brated  artists  in  the  United  States. 


THIS  book  is  a  complete  biography  of  the  renowned  adventurer, 
containing  the  incidents  of  his  birth  and  early  life  ;  his  ambitious 
love,  and  the  great  dangers  to  which  he  was  thereby  exposed;  his 
efforts  to  gain  the  object  of  his  attachment  by  seeking  wealth  and 
celebrity  in  America;  his  many  daring  and  chivalric  deeds;  his 
perilous  enterprises  and  important  discoveries  ;  his  crimes  and 
misfortunes  ;  his  singular  and  mysterious  death  ;  and  his  burial 
under  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi. 

WILMER'S  Life  of  Ferdinand  de  Soto  is  the  only  book  ever  pub 
lished  which  gives  a  true  and  faithful  account  of  the  operations  of 
the  Spaniards  in  America.  It  exposes  the  errors  and  misrepre 
sentations  of  the  historians  in  general ;  and  proves  conclusively 
that  a  majority  of  the  "mighty  conquerors"  were  freebooters  and 
villains  of  the  most  detestable  and  infamous  character.  It  contains 
many  thrilling  accounts  of 

SPANISH     BARBARITIES 

AND 

DEEDS  OP  THE    MOST  THRILLING  ATROCITY 

It  gives  the  only  genuine  narrative  of  the  "  CONQUEST  OF  PERU" 
which  has  ever  yet  appeared  in  the  English  language,  and  prove* 
that  the  "illustrious  hero,  Francisco  Pizarro,"  was  in  reality  an 
odious  and  contemptible  cut-throat  and  cowardly  robber,  who 
deserved  to  expiate  Ins  crimes  on  the  gibbet. 


896  LITE  AND  ADVENTURES  OP  DE  SOTO. 

Among  other  items  of  the  most  absorbing  interest  in  this  work 
1ft  a  correct  account  of  the 

CAPTURE  AND  BURNING  OF  THE  PERUVIAN  INCA, 

AND  THE  MASSACRE  OF  THOUSANDS  OF  HIS  SUBJECTS.  We 
can  declare  most  conscientiously  that  no  American  history  ever 
published  gives  a  true  account  of  these  transactions,  and  the  other 
tyrannical  deeds  of  Pizarro  and  his  confederates.  The  narrative 
of  these  events  in  the  "  Life  of  De  Soto"  is  taken  principally  from 
suppressed  manuscripts  in  the  Spanish  libraries,  which  the  kingg 
of  Spain  would  not  allow  to  be  published.  The  murder  of  the  Inca 
is  one  of  the  most  astounding  and  revolting  deeds  ever  recorded 
in  the  history  of  the  world. 

This  great  work  also  gives  a  complete  and  truthful  account  of 
De  Soto's  discoveries  and  adventures  on  that  part  of  the  American 
continent  now  forming  the  States  of  Florida,  Georgia,  South  Carolina, 
North  Carolina,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Arkansas,  Louisiana,  and  the 
Indian  Territory.  Some  of  these  veritable  details  are  far  more  won 
derful  than  the  wildest  inventions  of  the  novelist. 

The  futile  but  persevering  search  of  the  Spaniards  after  the  im 
aginary  FOUNTAIN  OF  YOUTH,  and  a  Gold  Region  supposed  to  exist 
:n  some  part  of  North  America,  is  graphically  related.  The  horri- 
ving  cruelties  of  the  Spaniards  are  faithfully  detailed. 

The  whole  of  De  Soto's  route  in  North  America  is  described  as 
almost  one  continuous  conflict  with  the  natives.  Several  of  his 
battles  with  the  North  American  Indians,  in  sanguinary  horror, 
surpass  all  similar  events  in  the  records  of  Indian  warfare.  His 
great  battle  fought  at  Mauvilla  (the  site  of  which  is  near  Mobile, 
in  the  State  of  Alabama)  occasioned  a  greater  loss  of  human  life 
than  any  other  engagement  which  ever  took  place  between  the 
white  race  and  the  aboriginal  tribes  of  America.  The  fearful  suf 
ferings  of  the  Spaniards  after  this  battle  are  described.  All  their 
baggage,  clothes,  camp  equipments,  plunder  (including  pearls  and 
gold  of  great  valuej,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Indians.  The  sub 
sequent  adventures  of  De  Soto  are  full  of  peril  and  hardship : 
many  of  his  followers  were  frozen  to  death  ;  many  others  were 
massacred  by  the  Indians  ;  a  large  number  perished  in  a  conflagra- 
«ion  of  the  Spanish  camp,  and  the  survivors  were  left  in  the  midst 
of  a  severe  winter  without  clothes  or  shelter.  In  all  these  disas 
ters,  the  indomitable  resolution  of  De  Soto  excites  the  admiration 
of  the  reader.  He  sets  all  danger  at  defiance,  overcomes  every  ob 
stacle,  and  fights  his  way  to  the  Mississippi.  He  builds  boats, 
crosses  that  mighty  stream  in  spite  of  the  opposition  of  the  natives, 
•who  assemble  in  grtac  numbers  along  the  banks  of  the  river  and 
harass  the  Spaniards  with  a  continued  attack.  '  De  Soto's  progress 
through  the  wilderness  to  the  foot  of  the  Ozark  Mountains  is  next 
given.  His  terrible  conflicts  with  the  original  Camanches  are  de 
scribed.  This  tribe  proves  to  be  unconquerable.  De  Soto  returns 
to  the  Mississippi.  His  grief,  disappointment  and  remorse.  He  is 
attacked  with  a  severe  disease.  His  biographer  suspects  that  he 
was  poisoned,  ^roofs  adduced.  Ho  dies.  A  friendly  chief  offers 


LIFE  AND   ADVENTURES   OF    DE   BOTO.  397 

to  sacrifice  his  beautiful  daughter  on  De  Solo's  tomb,  and  presents 
her  to  Louis  de  Moscoso  for  that  purpose. 

The  work  abounds  with  incidents  of  the  most  startling,  extraor 
dinary  and  romantic  description,  all  of  which  are  certified  by  re 
ferences  to  authentic  history.  It  comprises  twelve  episodes  of  In- 
4  clian  character  and  life.  The  work  contains  Six  superb  Steel  Plate 
Engravings,  one  of  which  is  a  Photograph  of  the  $10,000  Painting  or 
dered  by  Congress,  now  adorning  the  Rotunda  of  the  Capitol.  The 
book  is  printed  on  the  finest  paper,  and  bound  in  good  style.  It  is 
a  work  indispensable  to  every  Library.  The  Steel  Engraving  of  the  Burial 
of  De  Soto  in  the  Mississippi  is  pronounced  thejinest  work  of  art  ever  done 
in  this  country. 

Unboug-ht  Opinions  of  the  Press. 

From  Washington  Union. 

Mr.  Wilmer  has  produced  a  work  which  will  obtaiu  for  him  a  lasting  fame.  Without 
any  overstrained  rhetoric,  he  tells  the  romantic  story  of  De  Soto'u  adventures  in  such 
a  fascinating  style,  that  the  interest  of  the  reader  never  flags  till  he  has  finished  the 
volume.  Differing  from  Prescott  and  Irving,  the  author  of  this  work,  while  he  apolo 
gizes  for  "  De  Soto,"  does  not  fall  into  the  common  error  of  eulogium. 

We  cannot  help  remarking  the  difference,  in  this  particular,  between  the  treatment 
•>f  our  author's  subject  and  that  which  Mr.  Abbott  saw  fit  to  bestow  upon  Napoleon  ; 
kad  the  latter  observed  the  same  judiciousness  in  his  history,  it  would  have  been  in- 
\aluable,  and  would  have  done  the  justice  to  a  grea.(  man  which  the  fulsomeness  of 
tie  eulogist,  like  the  hatred  of  his  detractors,  has  defeated. 

The  history  of  De  Soto  is  presented  to  the  public  in  a  very  attractive  form  ;  it  con- 
tans  over  five  hundred  pages  of  clear,  handsome  print,  and  it  is  embellished  by  steel 
engravings  from  the  skillful  hands  of  the  Sartains,  and  woodcuts  by  Orr  &  Telfer. 
The  portraits  of  De  Soto  and  Donna  Isabella,  are  fine  specimens  of  the  art. 

7he  book  is  one  of  the  best  that  the  American  press  has  produced  during  the  year, 
*nd  we  have  no  doubt  it  will  become  a  standard  work,  and  will  well  reward  the 
scholarship  of  the  author,  and  the  enterprise  of  the  publishers. 

From  Cincinnati  Times. 

"The  Life  and  Adventures  of  Ferdinand  De  Soto."  This  is  the  title  of  a  new  and 
very  interesting  volume,  just  issued  by  J.  T.  Lloyd,  Philadelphia.  The  author.  L.  A. 
Wilmer,  has  faithfully  performed  his  task,  and  given  us  a  work  well  worth  taking  its 
place  in  any  library  in  the  land,  as  authentic  and  reliable.  To  the  city  of  the  Great 
West,  the  history  of  the  discovery  of  the  Mississippi  cannot  fail  to  possess  unbounded 
interest,  and  to  he  read  with  avidity  wherever  it  is  introduced.  The  volume  is  hand 
somely  bound,  and  profusely  illustrated. 

From,  Memphis  Eagle,  and  Enquirer. 

"  The  Life,  Travels,  and  Adveutu/es  of  Ferdinand  De  Soto,  Discoverer  of  the  Missis 
sippi — by  L.  Wilmer — Philadelphia,  J.  T.  Lloyd. 

This  interesting  and  splendidly  illustrated 'work  will  have  an  immense  sale;  it  is 
one  of  the  popular  works  of  the  day.  Embracing  a  period  of  forty-three  years,  from 
the  birth  to  the  death  of  De  Soto.  What  marvels  of  adventures  are  here  recorded.  Tho 
work,  in  thrilling  interest,  surpasses  any  thing  published  in  twenty  years. 

From  N.  0.  Picayune. 

"Lifs  of  De  Soto— J.  T.  Lloyd,  Publisher,  Philadelphia."  It  is  a  work  for  every 
library  in  the  land.  De  Soto,  the  discoverer  ef  the  Mississippi,  and  Pizarro's  brother- 
conqueror  of  Peru.  The  wood  and  steel  engravings  are  handsomely  executed  by  J.  W. 
Orr  &  li.  Telfer,  N.  Y.  It  will  have  immense  sale  in  the  Mississippi  Valley. 

From  N.  0.  Delta. 

"Life,  Travels,  and  Adventures  of  De  Soto,  Discoverer  of  the  Mississippi."  Of  all 
those  heroic  adventurers  who  came  to  North  and  South  America,  with  the  sword,  the 
cross,  and  the  flag  of  Spain,  De  Soto  is  to  us  the  most  interesting.  His  life  is  a  romance 
full  of  hair-breadth  adventures,  chivalrous  deeds,  and  unequaled  daring — his  sword 
flashed  from  the  waters  of  Tampa  Bay  to  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi. 

From  Franlc  Leslie's  Illustrated  Newspaper. 

"The  Life,  Travels,  and  Adventures  of  Ferdinand  De  Soto,  Discoverer  of  the  Missis 
sippi,  by  L.  A.  Wilmer—J.  T.  Lloyd,  Publisher.  Philedelphia."  This  valuable  addi- 


5i98 


LIFE    AND    ADVENTURES    OF   DE    SOTO. 


tion  to  the  literature  of  America  we  hail  with  pleasure.  Bringing  out  the  work  In  saob 
olegant  style  reflects  credit,  in  every  respect,  upon  the  taste  and  liberality  of  the  pub 
lisher.  It  if  written  in  a  graceful,  fluent  style  ;  indeed,  so  full  of  interest  is  the  work, 
that  we  fouu.  it  difficult  to  lay  it  aside  after  we  had  once  commenced  its^erubal.  It 
is  illustrated  with  numerous  fine  steel  and  wood  engravings. 
From  St.  Louis  Republican. 

"  The  Life  of  Ferdinand  De  Soto,  Discoverer  of  the  Mississippi,"  by  L.  A.  Wilmor, 
and   published  by  J.  T.  Lloyd,  Philadelphia.     Perhaps  there  is   no  n»pie  connect 
with  history  so  suggestive  of  daring  adventure,  of  perilous  enterprise,  and  romiui 
interest,  as  that  of  De  Soto,  the  Discoverer  of  the  Mississippi.     There  is  something 
attractive  in  this  Life  of  De  Soto,  that  we  are  reminded  of  reading  Robinson  Cru.sou 
our  youthful  days.     The  pages  flow  with  the  daring  deeds  of  the  hero,  the  splendor 
his  achievements,  the  celerity  of  his  movements,  and  his  fortitude,  where  disease  a 
famine,  and  myriads  of  savage  foes  were  all  assailing  him  in  a  remote  wilderness 
never  trodden  by  white  man  before.     The  work  Mr.  Wilmer  has  given  to  the  public 
is  a  good  one.     He  has  drawn  freely  from  the  many  sources  at  his  command.     Hi* 
atyle  is  clear  and  vigorous.    The  typographical  appearance  of  the  book  is  splendid, 
and  the  engravings  striking  and  excellent. 

From  WilWs  Home  Journal. 

"Life  of  De  Soto,  Discoverer  of  the  Mississippi,"  by  L.  A.  Wilmer,  and  bearing  the 
imprint  of  J.  T.  Lloyd,  Philadelphia.  This  is  the  most  interesting  work  it  has  ever 
been  our  privilege  to  read.  The  author  possesses  tragic  power  of  a  high  order.  The 
account  Mr.  Wilmer  gives  of  the  capture  and  burning  of  the  Peruvian  Inca,  and  thu 
massacre  of  thousands  of  his  subjects,  makes  one's  blood  run  cold.  The  volume  ha* 
5oO  pages,  and  profusely  illustrated  on  steel  and  wood. 
From  Chicago  Tribune. 

"Life  and  Adventures  of  Ferdinand  De  Soto,  Discoverer  of  the  Mississippi,"  by  I 
A.  Wilmer — J.  T.  Lloyd,  Publisher,  Philadelphia.     From  a  cursory  glance  at  thi 
work,  we  are  satisfied  that  it  is  a  book  of  rare  interest.     It  is  handsomely  printed  an 
highly  illustrated.     Mr.  Bamford,  the  agent  here,  has  nearly  sixteen  hundred  suli/ 
scribers  waiting  for  the  work. 

From  N.  T.  Courier  and  Enquirer. 

"Life  of  De  Soto,  Discoverer  of  the  Mississippi,"  by  L.  A.  Wilmer— Philadelphia,  J. 
T.  Lloyd.  As  De  Soto  was  among  those  Spaniards  who  arrived  on  this  continent  ;u 
an  early  period — as  he  was  a  companion  of  Pizarro  in  the  conquest  of  Peru — always 
taking  the  lead  in  all  the  battles — and  as  he  was  afterward  an  adventurer  in  our  own 
country,  better  materials  from  which  a  life  could  be  written  no  author  could  wish. 
There  are  many  parts  of  the  volume  from  which  we  might  take  extracts;  we  iniglu 
tell  of  De  Soto's  attachment  to  Donna  Isabella,  daughter  of  Governor  De  Avila — how 
he  was  repulsed  by  the  haughty  father,  on  account  of  his  poverty — how  he  deter 
mined  to  seek  wealth,  and  embarked  in  the  Peruvian  wars — his  immense  success  in 
making  millions  of  dollars  by  burning  the  Peruvian  Inca — his  returning  to  Spain  ;?\i\l 
marrying  the  beautiful  Isabella — his  adventures  in  this  country — his  battles  and  luuu 
ships — his  discovery  of  the  Mississippi,  and  his  burial  under  its  turbulent  waters,  li 
is  a  work  worth  having. 


THOUSAND  AGENTS  WANTED—  To  whom  we  will 
supply  this  book  at  the  wholesale  price  of  $  per  copy,  ami-give, 
each  Agent  a  certain  district  exclusively.  Single  copies  will  be, 
sent  by  Mail,  free  of  postage,  on  receipt  of  $  By  ordering  one 

hundred  copies  at  a  time,  the  work  will  be  pat  at  $         per  copy. 

HgH*  THIS  BOOK  IS  SOLD  ONLY  BY  OUR  AUTHORIZED  AGENTS. 
POSTMASTERS  are  requested  to  act  as  our  Agents  ;  and  if  they  can 
not  spare  the  time  to  do  so,  they  will  oblige  us  by  handing  thin. 
Circular  to  some  energetic  young  man  of  their  acquaintance. 

Ijgjf  Enclose  your  money  in  a  letter  if  there  is  no  Express  office 
convenient,  and  direct  it  plainly,  taking  care  to  write  the  name  of 
your  Post  Office  County  and  State.  Registered  letters  are  always 
at  our  risk.  Address, 

J.  T.  LLOYD,  Publisher,  N.  Y. 

N.  B.  —  As  we  allow  Agents  auch  large  profits,  it  will  not  pay  us  to  send 
Sample  Books  on  time  :  the  cash  must  accompany  every  order.  Agents  are 
furnished  Circulars  and  fine  Illustrated.  Showbills,  to  assist  them 


DR.  KANE  AND  WM.  C.  GODFREY,  IN  DENMARK. 

A  Danish  Naval  Officer  has  just  published  an  account  of  the  Kano  Exploring  Ex 
pedition,  from  the  dictation  of  Carl  Peterson,  who  was  Dr.  Kane's  Esquimaux  Inter 
preter.  In  this  work,  Dr.  Kano  is  charged  with  bad  management,  and  particularly 
with  great  cruelty  to  his  men,  in  his  Arctic  voyage,  in  which  the  author  accompanied 
him.  To  such  readers  as  are  familiar  with  the  artless  narrative  of  Wm.  C.  Godfrey, 
one  of  the  crew  of  Dr.  Kane's  vessel,  this  statement  will  bring  no  surprise.  What 
was  shown  by  Godfrey,  against  his  countryman  and  commander,  Dr.  Kane,  appears 
well  confirmed  by  Mr.  Petersen,  who  is  a  Dane,  and  who  was  engaged  as  Interpreter 
by  Dr.  Kane,  at  the  Danish  settlement  of  Upernavik,  on  the  coast  of  Greenland* 
while  that  commander  was  on  his  way  to  the  more  northern  seas.  The  testimony 
of  these  two  survivors  of  that  most  vaunted  expedition,  though  springing  from 
widely  distant  points  of  the  earth,  and  not  having  a  ccmmon  nationality  of  origin, 
or  even  a  common  language  of  communication,  so  well  concurs,  that  it  gives  us  pain 
to  see  the  fact  of  Dr.  Kane's  rigid  despotism,  and  his  still  more  clearly  marked 
cruelty,  so  well  established,  as  both  appear  to  be. — Buffalo  Express. 


AN  INTERESTING  WORK— AN  APPEAL  TO  THE  AMERICAN  PEOPLE. 

In  reading  the  adventures  of  Dr.  Kane,  in  the  Arctic  regions,  as  set  forth  in  hte 
oook,  we  thought  that,  in  the  treatment  of  a  certain  member  of  his  crew,  his  con 
duct  did  not  agree  with  that  chivalrous  and  Christian  character  which  his  general 
career  through  life  had  established  for  him.  "We  allude  to  his  treatment  of  the  man 
Godfrey,  a  character  bold,  adventurous,  and  intrepid,  and  who,  though  perhaps  a 
little  insubordinate,  possessed  those  two  characteristics,  courage  and  generosity, 
which,  in  whomever  possess  them,  preclude  the  possibility  of  a  bad  character. 
Godfrey  had  been  of  eminent  service  to  the  expedition;  by  his  courage  and  energy 
he  had  obtained  food  for  the  explorers  at  several  times  when  their  necessities  were 
of  the  most  harassing  character ;  in  one  instance  he  travelled  ninety-five  miles  on 
foot,  in  the  coldest  and  darkest  part  of  the  Arctic  winter,  to  procure  nourishment  for 
his  starving  companions ;  Dr.  Kane  has  acknowledged  his  services ;  and  yet  at  a 
time  when  a  portion  of  Dr.  Kane's  party  was  permitted  to  separate  themselves  from 
the  expedition,  because  this  man  Godfrey  wished  also  to  leave  and  join  the  Esqui 
maux,  the  Doctor  attempted  to  take  his  life  by  shooting  at  him,  and  in  his  book  hag 
grievously  injured  his  reputation.  Godfrey,  however,  with  that  determination  which 
characterized  his  previous  career  in  the  expedition,  did  leave,  notwithstanding  the 
Doctor's  opposition  and  rifle-balls ;  and,  true  to  the  generous  impulse  of  his  nature, 
he  subsequently,  by  stealth,  supplied  with  provisions  the  man  who  had  attempted  to 
take  his  life.  Dr.  Kane's  conduct  toward  Godfrey  is  the  only  stair:  upon  bis  bright 
career,  and  it  would  have  been  well  for  his  fair  fame  had  he  never  mentioned  him  in 
his  book.  The  American  people  were  so  dazzled  by  the  brilliancy  of  his  perform 
ances  in  the  Arctic  regions,  that  they  were  unable  to  see  this  blot;  and  it  was  not 
until  a  writer  in  the  North  British  Review  called  the  attention  of  the  world  to  it, 
that  the  Americans  perceived  the  stain  upon  the  escutcheon  of  their  favorite. —  U.  & 
Gazette. 


"Why  did  Dr.  E.  K.  Kane  try  to  Icill  Godfrey  V»— London  Tiraea 

Appeal  of  an  Arctic  Explorer,  WM.  C.  GODFREY,  to  the 
American  Public. 

FBLLOW  CITIZENS — I  am  tho  man  whom  Dr.  Kane,  in  his  published  volume,  ha* 
stigmatized  as  a  mutineer  and  deserter,  and  whose  moral  character  he  has  blackened 
with  many  reproachful  epithets  and  insinuations,  without  giving  the  least  proof  that 
I  ever  committed  any  offence  against  the  laws  of  my  country,  or  ever  was  guilty  of 
on>-  dishonorable  action.  These  unfounded  and  libellous  charges  against  an  unoffend 
ing  citizen  of  the  United  States  have  been  circulated  all  over  the  civilized  world  ;  and 
grange  to  say)  the  only  man  who  has  raised  a  voice  in  my  defence  is  an  Englishman, 
the  editor  of  the  North  British  Review,  who  has  shown,  by  Dr.  Kane's  own  statements, 
that  he  has  done  me  grievous  and  undeserved  wrong.  I  have  prepared  a  faithful  ac 
count  of  my  adventures  in  the  Polar  regions,  showing  to  what  injurious  treatment  I 
was  subjected  while  on  board  the  exploring  brig  Advance.  In  this  forthcoming 
volume,  I  have  related  facts  which  I  defy  Dr.  Kane's  friends  and  flatterers  to  disprove. 
1  have  shown  that  I  placed  my  life  in  the  greatest  peril  by  traveling  on  foot  95  miles, 
iii  the  darkest  and  coldest  part  of  the  Arctic  winter,  to  procure  food  for  my  dying 
companions.  I  have  shown  that  I  saved  Dr.  Kane's  life  at  the  risk  of  my  own,  and 
that  he  afterward  attempted  to  shoot  me,  without  any  just  cause  or  provocation.  The 
book  containing  an  account  of  my  hardships,  sufferings,  and  wrongs  in  the  Arctic 
regions,  will  be  published  within  a  few  days,  by  Mr.  LLOYD,  of  Philadelphia.  Such 
has  been  the  influence  of  the  stigma  cast  upon  my  character  by  Dr.  Kane's  publica 
tions,  that  I  have  found  it  almost  impossible  to  obtain  employment  in  the  United 
States;  the  reader,  therefore,  will  not  be  surprised  when  I  say  that  I  have  been  com 
pelled  to  drive  an  omnibus  in  Philadelphia,  the  past  year,  for  a  living.  This  Vindi 
cation  would  have  appeared  sooner,  but  I  was  unable  to  meet  the  expense  of  publica 
tion,  until  Mr.  LLOYD  agreed  to  publish  my  book  at  his  own  risk.  This  gentleman 
has  enabled  a  poor  and  unfortunate  man  to  bring  his  cause  before  the  American  public, 
from  whom  he  asks  no  more  than  a  fair  and  impartial  hearing,  and  a  just  decision, 
according  to  the  true  and  obvious  merits  of  the  case. 

WM.  C.  GODFREY. 

Philadelphia,  June  1st,  1857. 

*©=•  Now  Ready  the  most  thrilling  Book  of  tlie  Age.  -«* 

GODFREY'S    THRILLING   NARRATIVE 

OF  THE  LAST  GRINNELL 

ARCTIC    EXPLORING   EXPEDITION, 

IN  SEAECH  OF  SIK  JOHN  FRANKLIN. 
By  "WILLIAM  C.  GODFREY,  one   of  the  Survivors. 

Three  hundred  pages,  and  eighty  engravings.  Price,  in  paper,  50  cents;  cloth 
binding,  *1.00. 

FROM  THB  NORTH  BRITISH  REVIEW. — "This  attempt  to  take  the  life  of  Win.  C.  God 
frey,  which  no  law,  human  or  divine,  can  justify,  was,  fortunately  for  Dr.  Kane,  over 
ruled.  When  in  o.  former  Arctic  expedition,  its  leader  shot  a  ferocions  Indian  of  hia 
party,  the  world  viewed  it  as  an  act  of  stern  necessity  and  personal  safety  ;  but  God 
frey  was  neither  a  madman  nor  an  enemy  ;  he  had  marched  95  miles  alone,  in  the  most 
dreary  aud  coldest  part  of  the  Arctic  Ocean,  to  bring  fresh  provisions  to  his  dying  com 
rades,  without  which,  Dr.  Kane  admits,  they  would  have  all  perished." 

Kvery  man,  woman,  and  child  should  read  this  thrilling  nar 
rative  of  Godfrey's  sutler  ings. 


J.  T.  LL.OVr>,  PirbTfNluT.  New  York. 

.  B. — If  you  cannot  acf  as  Agent,  hand  this  Circular  to  some  energetic  young  man 

(400) 


FKOU  THK  NORTH  BRITISH  EEVIEW.— "  This  attempt  to  tako  the  life  of  Win.  C.  God- 
frey,  which  no  law,  human  or  divine,  can  justify,  was,  fortunately  for  Dr.  Kane,  over 
ruled.  When  in  a  former  Arctic  expedition,  its  leader  shot  a  ferocious  Indian  of  his 
party,  the  world  viewed  it  as  an  act  of  stern  necessity  and  personal  safety;  but  God 
frey  was  neither  a  ruadmau  nor  an  enemy  ;  he  had  marched  95  miles  alone,  in  the  most 
dreary  and  coldest  part  of  the  Arctic  Ocean,  to  bring  fresh  provisions  to  his  dying  com 
rades',  without  which,  Dr.  Kane  admits,  they  would  have  all  perished." 


GODFREY'S    THRILLING    NARRATIVE 

OF    THE     LAST 

Grinnell  Arctic  Exploring  Expedition 


\FM.  o.  ooDFiiEr,  (FROM  A  PHOTOGRAPH.) 


IN  SEARCH  OF  SIR  JOHN  FRANKLIN 

By    WM.    C.    GODFREY,   One  of  the  Survivors. 
Thrr*-  biu.'.lrtvl  [>sws  «U<1  SO  Euirravinjrs.     Price  in  ClottBlndIng.fi 

Jf.  'I1.  L.1.0YD,  Publisher.  TV'ew  Vorlt. 

ucm 


MATRIMONIAL   BROKERAGE.  403 

THE   GREAT   SENSATION   BOOK, 

JUST    ISSUED, 

MATRIMONIAL  BROKERAGE  L\  THE  METROPOLIS, 

Tlio  most  astounding  volume  issued  in  many  years.    200  pp.   Illus 
trated  on  Steel  and  Wood.     Portraits  of 

A  Fifth  Avenue  Belle,  who  answered  a  $50,000  Advertisement  for  a 
"  Pretty  Wife." 

Portrait  of  Mrs.  Willis,  the  Matrimonial  Broker  $  List  of  Vic 
tims,  Merchants,  Lawyers,  Southern  Planters,  and  Fast 
Young  Men :  all  introduced  to  beautiful  but  thoughtless 
Girls.  A  bushel  of  Love  Letters  and  Daguerreotypes  cap 
tured  by  the  Police  from  Dr.  Lyons,  before  he  sailed  for  Eu 
rope.  Over  3000  Matches  made  at  Mrs.  Willis'  Office  annu 
ally.  Jolm  Dean  and  Miss  Bolter.  Breach  of  Promise  Cases, 
arising  from  Matrimonial  Brokerage  Offices,  one  for  $10,000  ; 
another  for  $6,000  ;  and  for  $11,000.  Names  of  many  of  the 
Victims — Men  well  known.. 

Hear  what  the  New  York  Evening  Post  says,  (  Wm.  C.  Bryant,  Editor.) 
MATRIMONIAL. — The  subject  was  novel,  and  the  writer  of  the 
articles  is  the  first  who  has  given  it  a  thorough  investigation.  His 
inquiries  have  been  long  and  laborious,  and  not  always  pleasant; 
but  the  results,  as  he  has  given  them,  are  in  every  essential  re 
spect  authentic.  Some  doubt  has  been  expressed,  by  correspond 
ents  and  others,  as  to  the  truth  of  his  descriptions  of  the  several 
interviews  held  in  a  recent  instance,  but  we  are  assured,  on  the 
best  of  evidence,  that  they  are  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a  faith 
ful  report  of  what  took  place  and  was  said.  If  we  had  not  been 
convinced  of  this,  the  articles  would  not  have  been  printed  in  this 
paper.  The  author,  moreover,  has  many  letters  and  documents 
that  have  fallen  into  his  hands,  and  which  we  have  seen,  confirma 
tory  of  the  stories  he  has  narrated. 

Many  breach  of  promise  cases  arise  from  acquaintances  formed 
in  matrimonial  offices,  and  by  means  of  advertisements  ;  a  fact 
which  is  illustrated  by  the  history  of  Mr.  Gillette,  in  another  num 
ber.  In  short,  it  may  be  taken  for  granted,  in  nearly  every  case, 
I  hat  these  proceedings  are  designed  to  decoy  unthinking,  inexpe 
rienced,  and  heedless  persons  into  some  trap,  either  to  wheedle 
them  out  of  their  money,  or  to  put  them  in  a  position  in  which 
they  will  be  completely  in  the  power  of  the  sharpers. 

We  believe  that  the  writer  who  makes  these  exposures  has  ren 
dered  a  service  to  the  public,  and  the  book  which  he  proposes  to 
form  from  his  contributions  will  contain  much  valuable  informa 
tion. 

'     300    Pages,   Octavo.     Price   5O  Cents. 

Address  J.  T.  LLOYD,  Publisher,  New  3Tov!r.. 


H  E  L  P  E  R'S 


IMPENDING    CRISIS 


DISSECTED. 


BY 


SAML.     M.    W3LFE 


"  Ho  hears 

On  all  sides,  from  innumerable  tongues, 
A  dismal,  universal  hiss,  the  sound 
Of  public  SCORN." 

Milton's  Paradise  Lost. 


NEW    YORK: 

a?,     m,  m, 

I860. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1860,  by 
J.     T.     LLOYD, 

In   the   Clerk's   Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the   United  States,  in  and  for  th* 
Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 


DEDICATION. 


TO 


HON'S  THOS.  S.  BOCOCK  AND  R.  M.  T.  HUNTER, 

OP   VIRGINIA, 

HON.  JOHN  COCHRANE,  OF  NEW  YORK, 
HON.  JOHN  D.  ASHMORE,  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA, 
HON.  CHARLES  H.  LARRABEE,  OF  WISCONSIN, 
HON.  JABEZ  L.  M.  CURRY,  OF  ALABAMA, 
HON.  STEPHEN  A.  DOUGLAS,  OF  ILLINOIS, 
HON.  JOHN  B.  CLARK,  OF  MISSOURI, 
HON.  PHILIP  B.  FOUKE,  OF  ILLINOIS, 
HON.  JOHN  McRAE,  OF  MISSISSIPPI, 


TO   ALL  PATRIOTS  NORTH  AND   SOUTH, 

IN  THEIR  ENDEAVORS  TO  ENSURE  THE  SUCCESSFUL  DEFEAT  OP 

HELPER/ASM"  AND    SHERMAN/^ 

And  who  love  truth  better  than  falsehood,  who  desire  to  see  the 

Constitution  of  our  fathers  preserved  inviolate  of  the  spirit  of 

Harmony  that  brought  it  into  being,  and  who  desire  to  see 

the  hellish  doctrines  of  Republicanism  crushed  to  pieces, 

THIS  WORK   IS   RESPECTFULLY   DEDICATED, 

BY    THEIE 
FBIEND  AND  FELLOW-CITIZEN, 

THE  AUTHOR. 


\A/ 


PREFACE. 


AFTER  the  first  appearance  of  Helper's  "  Impend 
ing  Crisis  of  the  South,"  the  Author  of  this  work 
intended  to  have  answered  it  immediately;  but  on 
considering  it,  he  thought  that  it  was  too  contempt 
ible  to  notice,  and  he  determined  to  pay  no  attention 
to  it  whatsoever,  and  would  have  adhered  to  his 
resolution  had  the  work  not  had  so  much  importance 
given  to  it  by  Members  of  Congress  during  the  late 
contest  for  Speakership  of  the  House  of  Represent 
atives.  But  as  the  work  has  been  brought  to  the 
attention  of  the  public  by  Members  of  Congress,  we 
think  some  notice  may  be  taken  of  the  many  lies  con 
tained  in  the  work  of  this  vile  wretch  (Helper). 
And  in  refuting  his  would-be  arguments,  and  by 
correcting  his  Statistics,  and  calling  the  attention  of 
the  public  to  the  incendiary  portions  of  his  infamous 
work,  we  will  not  allow  ourselves,  like  Helper,  tc 
descend  so  much  beneath  the  dignity  of  humanity 

(1) 


2  PEEFACE. 

much  less  of  a  gentleman,  be  that  humanity  ever 
so  corrupt,  as  to  notice  some  of  the  obscure  and 
disgusting  insinuations,  leaving  these,  as  we  do,  for 
the  public  to  consider  them  as  the  effusions  of  a 
diseased  brain, — as  Mr.  Helper's  must  have  been,  or 
he  never  would  have  stooped  so  low  as  to  make  the 
dirty  allusions  to  those  who  honestly  differed  with 
him  And  it  appears  worse  when  we  consider  that  not 
more  than  three  years  ago,  this  very  same  man  held 
the  opinion  that  Slavery  was  right  and  ought  to  be 
extended,  as  we  show  on  Page  67  of  our  work ;  but 
who  seeing  he  could  make  nothing  further  out  of  the 
South,  went  to  the  North  and  turned  against  us,  and 
now  (not  honestly  we  believe)  denounces  what  he 
once  considered  right  as  being  wrong.  We  leave  it 
to  the  public  to  judge  what  confidence  can  be  placed 
in  such  a  man.  We  have  not  followed  Helper  in  a 
regular  manner  in  considering  his  Statistics,  but 
have  met  them  all  at  one  time.  Believing,  as  we 
do,  that  we  here  discharge  a  high  duty  not  only 
to  truth,  but  to  our  country,  we  put  forth  the  fol 
lowing  pages  for  the  consideration  of  the  citizens 
of  the  United  States. 

March,  1st,  1860. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

MM 

The  Black  Republican  Party  a  Disunion  Party — The  Unanswer 
able  Proofs— Their  Open  Hostility  to  the  South — The  Fanat 
ics  of  the  North  urging  on  a  "Crisis "that  will  rebound  on 
the  heads  of  the  Freemen  of  the  North,  and  bring  down 
Labor  in  the  North  to  Starvation  Prices! — The  Ball  set  in 
motion — Strike  of  Six  Thousand  Mechanics  in  Massachusetts 
— First  Fruits  of  Republicanism 7 

CHAPTER  II. 

Statistical  Fallacies  of  Helper's  Book— The  True  State  of  the 
Case — Large  Balance  in  favor  of  the  South — The  boasted 
Free  Labor  of  the  North  overshadowed  by  the  Productions 
of  the  South— Report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  United  States' 
Treasury — The  Republican  Party  trying  to  Dissolve  the 
Union  of  the  States— The  South  in  favor  of  Perpetuating 
the  Union  of  these  States  as  long  as  their  rights  are  respected 
— Republican  Party  a  Sectional  Party — The  Proofs  from 
Northern  Men 38 

CHAPTER  III. 

Helper's  Slanders  on  the  Non-Slaveholding  people  of  the  South 
refuted — Better  chance  in  the  South  for  a  poor  man  than  in  the 
North — The  proofs — Names  of  prominent  Statesmen  of  the 

(3) 


CONTENTS. 

PAGK 

South  who  have  risen  from  poverty  to  the  highest  eminence 
— The  Negro  well  treated  in  the  South — Richly  repaid  for  his 
Labor — Comparisons  between  the  poor  Whites  of  the  North 
and  the  Negro  of  the  South— The  Strike  of  the  poor  Whites 
in  Massachusetts — They  admit  that  they  are  worse  off  than 
the  Slaveointhe  South 57 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Th«s  Hypocrisy  of  Helper— In  favor  of  Slavery  in  his  work 
isMteci  18£5 — Driven  from  the  South  for  stealing  three 
hundred  dollars — Writes  "  Helper's  Impending  Crisis  of  the 
South" — Helper  denounces  free  negroes  in  his  "Land  of 
Gold" — Valuable  statistical  information  in  regard  to  the 
power  and  wealth  of  the  South— Seaports  of  the  South 
— Sbore  line  of  States  on  the  Atlantic  Ocean  in  favor  of 
the  South,  of  eighteen  thousand  miles  more  than  the  North 
— The  power  of  the  South  to  establish  and  maintain  a 
separate  and  independent  government  against  the  United 
North  combined — The  military  strength  of  the  South  esti 
mated  at  six  million  whites — Her  immense  resources  in  case 
of  war 66 

CHAPTER   V. 

Helper's  ignorance  of  the  feelings  of  the  non-slaveholding 
populaion  of  the  South  to  their  country — The  negroes  of 
the  South  true  to  their  masters — The  proofs  given  at  Har 
per's  Ferry— Not  a  slave  attempted  to  run  away— The  South 
have  no  fears  of  the  uprising  of  the  negroes — How  the  ne 
groes  aided  their  masters  to  repel  the  British  under  Lord 
Cornwallis,  and  at  New  Orleans — Report  of  the  Virginia 
Legislature  on  the  Harper's  Ferry  outrage 76 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Helper's  Book  Ruining  the  Trade  of  the  North — Trade  Crushed 
— The  Bankruptcy  of  the  entire  North  predicted— Helper's 


CONTENTS.  5 

PAGE 

Advice  to  the  North  adopted  by  the  entire  South — Republi 
can  Party  responsible  for  the  Withdrawal  of  the  Southern 
Trade — "The  Shoe  commences  to  Pinch" — Helper's  Statis 
tics  of  the  Prices  of  Land  in  the  South  demolished 126 


CHAPTER  VII. 

The  Declaration  of  Independence  quoted  to  prove  the  Negro 
was  not  Born,  "  Created  Free  and  Equal,"  with  the  White  Man 
— Judge  Taney's  Decision  in  the  Dred  Scott  Case  quoted  to 
prove  the  Author's  assertions 153 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Northern  Testimony  in  regard  to  the  Aggressions  of  the  Re 
publican  Party  against  the  South — Extracts  from  the  Speeches 
of  the  Hon.  J.  A.  Logan  and  Stephen  A.  Douglas — The  Dam 
age  inflicted  upon  the  Northern  Merchants  and  Manufacturers 
by  the  Republican  Party — The  Proofs — The  South  in  favor  of 
Disunion  in  certain  Contingencies — Eloquent  Defense  of  the 
South,  by  Hon.  Horatio  Gr.  Seymour  of  New  York,  and  Col. 
J.  W.  Wall  of  New  Jersey 162 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Speech  of  the  Hon.  L.  Q.  C.  Lamar,  of  Mississippi,  on  the 
Excitement  of  the  times — His  noble  defense  of  Slavery — Civil 
War  in  the  United  States  predicted  years  ago  by  Commodore 
Decatur,  of  the  United  States  Navy — Slavery  proven  to  have 
existed  in  the  Hebrew  Nation — Lord  Macaulay,  the  author, 
quoted  to  show  the  vast  ruin  it  would  entail  upon  thou 
sands  of  the  whites  in  England,  were  Slavery  abolished  in 
the  United  States— The  great  blessings  of  the  Cotton  Crop..  179 

CHAPTER   X. 

Helper's  Quotations  from  the  Bible  annihilated — Slavery  not 
denounced  by  the  Bible— The  Proofs  of  Slavery  as  it  existed 


6  CONTENTS 

PAGIB 

before  Christ — Southern  Slavery  Beneficial  both  to  the  Slave 
and  his  Master — The  Bible  endorses  Slavery  :  hence  the  cry  of 
the  Republicans,  "  We  must  have  an  Anti-slavery  Bible,  an 
Anti-slavery  Constitution,  and  an  Anti-slavery  God  !" 204 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Our  Views  on  Slavery — The  Negro  as  he  is,  incompetent  to  do 
for  Himself— The  Proofs— Conclusion 213 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 


CHAPTER  I. 

The  Black  Republican  Party  a  Disunion  Party — The  Unanswerable 
Proofs— Their  Open  Hostility  to  the  South— The  Fanatics  of  the 
North  urging  on  a  "Crisis"  that  will  rebound  on  the  heads  of  the 
Freemen  of  the  North,  and  bring  down  Labor  in  the  North  to 
Starvation  Prices !— The  Ball  set  in  motion — Strike  of  Six  Thou 
sand  Mechanics  in  Massachusetts— First  Fruits  of  Republicanism 

"  Judge  me  not  ungentle, 
Of  manner  rude,  and  insolent  of  speech, 
If,  when  the  public  safety  is  in  question, 
My  zeal  flows  warm  and  eager  from  my  tongue." 

IN  1859,  a  man  destitute  of  principle,  driven  from  a 
State  of  which  he  claims  to  be  a  native  on  account  of 
his  rascality,  published  a  book  at  the  instance  of  the 
"Publishing  Committee"  of  the  Black  Republican  Party, 
to  be  used  as  a  campaign  document,  entitled  "  The  Im 
pending  Crisis  of  the  South;  by  Hinton  Rowan  Helper, 
of  North  Carolina." 

This  book,  advocating  treason,  rebellion,  civil  war,  in 
surrection,  murder,  arson,  rapine  and  bloodshed,  received 
the  signatures  of  the  following  Members  of  Congress,  re 
commending  its  circulation,  etc. : — 

(7) 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 


Schuyler  Colfax, 
Anson  Burlingame, 
Owen  Lovejoy, 
Amos  P.  Granger, 
Edwin  B.  Morgan, 
Galusha  A.  Grow, 
Joshua  R.  Giddings, 
Edward  Wade, 
Calvin  C.  Chaffee, 
Abraham  B.  Olin, 
Emory  B.  Pottel, 
T.  Davis  (Mass.), 
R.  E.  Fenton, 
Charles  Case, 
Homer  E.  Royce, 
Robert  B.  Hall, 
David  Kilgore, 
John  M.  Wood, 
Charles  J.  Gilman, 
J.  W.  Sherman, 
0.  B.  Matteson, 
E.  P.  Walton, 
Francis  E.  Spinner, 
Wm.  H.  Kelsey, 
Wm.  A.  Howard, 
Henry  Waldron, 
John  Sherman, 
George  W.  Palmer, 
Daniel  W.  Gooch, 
Henry  L.  Dawes, 
Justin  S.  Morrill, 
Israel  Washburne,  Jr. 
Sidney  Dean, 
De  Witt  C.  Leach, 


J.  F.  Farnsworth, 
Phileman  Bliss, 
T.  Davis  (Iowa), 
Isaiah  D.  Clawson, 
Valentine  B.  Horton, 
William  Stewart, 
John  M.  Parker, 
Chas.  B.  Hoard, 
Wm.  D.  Brayton, 
Richard  Mott, 
James  Wilson, 
Silas  M.  Burroughs, 
J.  A.  Bingham, 
Wm.  Kellogg, 

E.  B.  Washburne, 
Benjamin  Stanton, 
Edward  Dodd, 

C.  B.  Tompkins, 
John  Covode, 
Cad.  C.  Washburne, 
P.  G.  Adams, 
N.  B.  Durfee, 
John  F.  Potter, 
C.  L.  Knapp, 
Mason  W.  Tappan, 
James  Pike, 
A.  S.  Murray, 

F.  H.  Morse, 
Samuel  K.  Curtis, 
Stephen  C.  Foster, 
John  Thompson, 
Jas.  Buffington, 
Geo.  B.  Robbins, 
S.  A.  Purviance. 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.  9 

Hear  also  what  Win.  H.  Seward,  the  great  leader  of  the 
"Irrepressible  Conflict"  Black  Republican  Faction  says 
about  it :  "I  have  read  the  *  Impending  Crisis  of  the 
South'  with  deep  attention.  It  seems  to  me  a  work  of 
great  merit,  rich,  yet  accurate,  in  statistical  information, 
and  logical  in  analysis." 

Mr.  Seward  recommends  this  book  of  Helper's  as  being 
"accurate."  Now  we  propose  to  show  that,  instead  of 
"  accurate,"  it  is  far  from  being  so.  On  the  8th  page,  at 
the  top,  the  author  says,  "At  the  time  of  the  adoption  of 
the  Constitution,  in  1789,  we  commenced  an  even  race 
with  the  North.  All  things  considered,  if  either  the  North 
or  the  South  had  the  advantage,  it  was  the  latter."  Then 
the  author  goes  on  to  prove,  by  comparing  New  York  and 
Virginia  together,  and  says :  "  In  1790,  when  the  first 
Census  was  taken,  New  York  contained  340,120  inhabit 
ants;  at  the  same  time,  the  population  of  Virginia  was 
748,308,  being  more  than  twice  the  number  of  New  York." 

Now  it  is  clearly  proved  by  the  published  Compendium 
of  the  Census  of  1850  by  Congress,  that  the  real  excess 
of  her  population,  in  1790,  was  owing  to  the  large  amount 
of  her  colored  population. 

On  page  45  of  "  Census  Compendium,"  it  will  be  seen 
that,  in  1790,  Virginia  had  the  following  population : — 

Whites 442,045 

Page  63, 

Free  Negroes 12,766 

Page  82, 

Slaves ....293,427 


10          HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

Making  the  whole  amount  of 

Whites 442,045 

Negroes  (Free  and  Slave) 306,193 

Total  majority  of  Whites 135,852 

New  York  had,  in  1790, 

Whites 314,142 

Free  Colored 4,654 

Slaves 21,324 

Making  the  whole  amount  of 

Whites t.. 314,142 

Negroes  (Free  and  Slave) 26,078 

Total  majority  of  Whites 288,064 

Now  we  intend  to  show  that,  in  1790,  the  following 
States  were  not  in  the  Union,  viz. : — Alabama,  Arkansas, 
Florida,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  Missouri, 
Ohio,  Texas,  nor  the  District  of  Columbia  (of  which  part 
belonged  to  Virginia,  and  the  other  Maryland).  Indiana, 
Illinois  and  Ohio  were  a  part  of  Virginia ;  and  when  ceded 
to  the  United  States,  necessarily  took  with  them  a  part  of 
the  population  of  Virginia.  In  1800,  Indiana  was  ceded 
to  the  United  States  by  Virginia,  with  the  following  popu 
lation  : — 

Whites 2,574 

Free  Colored 163 

Slaves 135 

Total 2,872 

Ohio  was  ceded  also,  in  1800,  with  the  following  popu 
lation  : — 

Whites 24,433 

Free  Colored 337 

Total...  , 24,770 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.  11 

There  were  no  slaves  in  this  State  until  1830,  and  they 
•\mounted  to  six  in  number. 

Illinois  was  ceded  m  1810,  with  the  following  popula 
tion  : — 

Whites 6,380 

Free  Colored 613 

Slaves 168 

Total 7,161 

Thus  taking  away  quite  a  large  amount  of  her  population. 

But,  before  considering  Mr.  Helper  and  the  "  Impending 
Crisis  of  the  South,"  we  will  consider  the  Black  Republican 
party,  as  it  is  for  this  party's  benefit  that  Mr.  Helper's 
book  was  published,  and  under  their  direction. 

We  intend  to  show  that  a  dissolution  of  the  Union  is 
the  object  of  the  Abolition  "Republican"  party;  and,  in 
doing  so,  it  would  be  a  very  easy  thing  to  show,  by  testi 
mony  on  record,  enough  to  satisfy  every  patriotic  and 
Constitutional  Union  man  in  the  country,  that  this  is  their 
aim  and  object  by  their  attacks  on  the  South  and  her  in 
stitutions. 

The  ablest  of  the  anti-slavery  agitators  belong  to  the 
"Anti-Slavery  Republican  Party."  This  title  for  their 
"PARTY"  may  be  very  distasteful  to  them,  but,  neverthe 
less,  it  is  the  true  name  for  their  organization.  The  "  Re 
publican  party  could  not  exist  another  day,  were  it  not  for 
that  prominent  section  of  their  platform  avowing  its  hos 
tility  to  the  Institution  of  Slavery.  The  head-quarters  for 
carrying  on  their  operations  are  England  and  Massachu- 


12  HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

setts,  and  they  do  not  attempt  to  conceal  it.  A  number 
of  the  London  Telegraph  of  1856,  one  of  their  British 
organs,  says : 

"  There  are  now  over  three  millions  of  human  beings 
held  in  cruel  bondage  in  the  United  States.  If,  therefore, 
the  United  States  Government  deny,  and  is  resolved  to 
question,  the  right  of  Great  Britain  to  her  Central  Amer 
ican  possessions,  we,  the  people  of  the  British  Empire,  are 
resolved  to  strike  off  the  shackles  from  the  feet  of  her 
three  millions  of  slaves.  And  there  are  those  among  us 
who  will  sanctify  such  a  glorious  cause."  The  London 
News,  speaking  of  a  probability  of  a  war  between'  Great 
Britain  and  the  United  States,  says :  "  The  Abolitionists 
would  be  with  us  to  a  man.  The  best  of  them  are  so  now." 
Conservative  people  of  the  North,  look  at  this, —  the 
"Republican"  Party  are  willing  to  sell  your  country  into 
the  hands  of  our  enemy  (England),  for  two  pieces  of  silver, 
instead  of  thirty,  as  Judas  did  his  Lord. 

In  each  number  of  one  of  the  leading  newspapers  of 
this  so-called  "Republican"  Party,  published  at  Boston, 
there  appeared  at  the  head  of  its  columns,  during  the 
campaign  of  1856,  when  John  C.  Fremont  was  their 
standard-bearer,  the  following  motto,  in  prominent  char 
acters  : — u  No  Union  with  Slaveholders  !  The  United 
States  Constitution  is  a  covenant  tvith  Death,  and  an 
agreement  with  Hell!"  And  this,  together  with  several 
other  papers  published  in  that  section,  constantly,  openly 
and  boldly  advocated  an  immediate  dissolution  of  tho 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.          13 

Union.  At  the  twenty-third  annual  meeting  of  the  Mas 
sachusetts  Anti-Slavery  Society,  which  convened  at  Boston 
on  the  24th  day  of  January,  1856,  it  was 

"Resolved,  That  the  one  great  issue  before  the  Country 
is  the  dissolution  of  the  Union,  in  comparison  with  which 
all  other  issues  with  the  Slave-power  are  as  dust  in  the 
balance.  Therefore,  we  will  give  ourselves  to  the  work  of 
annulling  this  covenant  with  death,  as  essential  to  our  own 
innocency  and  the  speedy  and  everlasting  overthrow  of  the  / 
slave  system." 

On  that  occasion,  Wendell  Phillips  commenced  his  speech 
in  favor  of  disunion  thus  : — "  I  entirely  accord  with  the 
sentiment  of  that  last  resolution.  I  think  all  we  have  to 
do  is  to  prepare  the  public  mind,  by  the  daily  and  hourly 
presentation  of  the  doctrine  of  disunion.  Events  which, 
fortunately  for  us,  the  Government  itself,  and  other  par 
ties,  are  producing  with  unexampled  rapidity,  are  our  best 
aid." 

And  this  speech,  continued  in  this  spirit,  was  applauded 
throughout  by  the  audience  there  assembled. 

On  the  18th  day  of  December,  1855,  Mr.  Giddings,  in 
the  House  of  Representatives,  made  a  speech  on  the  or 
ganization  of  the  House,  in  which,  after  heaping  upon  the 
South  the  most  insulting  epithets, — and  thereby,  so  far  as 
in  him  lay,  weakening  the  bonds  of  the  Union, — in  alluding 
to  a  remark  that  the  aggressions  of  the  Black  Republicans, 
if  continued,  would  lead  to  a  destruction  of  the  Govern 
ment,  he  turned  to  the  Southern  members,  and,  in  a  tone 
2 


14          HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

of  bravado,  remarked:  "You  shall  not  dissolve  the 
Union.  With  unwavering  determination,  we  say  to  those 
traitors,  You  shall  not  dissolve  it!"  The  Boston  Libera 
tor,  of  the  llth  of  January  last,  thus  gently  reproves  the 
insincerity  of  his  friend:  "Mr.  Giddings  says  truly  that 
the  dissolution  of  the  Union  has  long  been  held  up  as  a 
scarecrow  by  the  South;  but  when  he  adds  that  the 
friends  of  liberty  have  never  demanded  it,  his  statement 
is  untrue,  unless  he  means  to  confine  it  to  his  political  as 
sociates,  who  are  but  compromisers  at  best.  "We  demand 
nothing  short  of  a  dissolution,  absolute  and  immediate. 
The  Union,  which  has  been  founded  by  our  fathers,  was 
cemented  by  the  blood  of  the  slave,  and  effected  through 

his  immolation." 

v 

On  the  national  anniversary,  the  4th  of  July,  1856, 
when  the  whole  American  people  should  have  sent  up  one 
united  heart  to  the  throne  of  God  in  gratitude  for  the 
countless  blessings  showered  upon  us,  a  mass  meeting  was 
held  at  Framingham,  in  Massachusetts,  at  which  several 
disunion  speeches  were  made,  and  received  with  applause. 
Our  space  will  not  allow  us  to  give  extracts  from  but  two. 
Wm.  Lloyd  Garrison  said : — 

"  Let  us  then,  to-day,  rejecting  as  wild  and  chimerical 
all  suggestions  and  contrivances  and  propositions  for 
restraining  slavery  in  its  present  limits,  while  extending 
constitutional  protection  to  it  in  fifteen  of  the  thirty-one 
States,  register  our  pledge  anew  before  Heaven  and  the 
world,  that  we  will  do  what  in  us  lies  to  effect  the  eternal 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.          15 

overthrow  of  this  Hood-stained  Union,  that  thus  our  en 
slaved  countrymen  may  find  a  sure  deliverance,  and  we 
may  no  longer  be  answerable  for  their  blood."  J.  B. 
Swassey,  Esq.,  who  addressed  the  meeting  at  the  same 
time,  said:  "In  the  old  times,  I  was  called  an  Anti- 
Slavery  Whig.  But,  Mr.  President,  it  has  come  to  my 
mind  like  a  conviction,  that  it  is  utterly  in  vain  to  hope 
that  we  can  live  under  such  a  Government  as  this  with  our 
professions,  and  with  our  pretended  love  of  freedom  and 
right.  Why,  the  thing  is  impossible.  There  cannot,  in 
the  nature  of  things,  be  any  union  between  the  principles 
of  liberty  and  slavery.  There  never  has  been  any  union, 
except  by  the  subjugation  of  the  principles  of  liberty  to 
those  of  despotism.  For  one,  sir,  I  believe  that  the  duty 
of  every  true  man  is  now  to  take  the  ground  of  secession.'1 
A  writer  in  the  National  Anti- Slavery-  Standard,  writing 
from  Newburg,  on  the  Hudson  River,  under  date  of  May 
28th,  1856,  said :  "  But  I  waste  words.  In  this  fearful 
crisis  one  hope  is  left  us, — the  hope  that  the  people  of  the 
North  will  see  the  jeopardy  in  which  they  stand,  and  will 
look  disunion  calmly  in  the  face.  Let  those  of  us  who 
feel  this  wrong  throw  away  these  miserable  party  divi 
sions,  and,  lifting  up  our  eyes  to  that  Heaven  where 
Liberty,  the  daughter  of  God,  stands  forever  by  her 
Father's  throne,  STRIKE  in  her  name,  and  but  one 

blow !" 

We  know  it  will  be  said  that  these  are  the  sentiments 

of  the  ultra  Abolitionists,  and  that  those  virtuous  gentle- 


16  HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

men,  Seward,  Greeley,  Giddings,  Fremont,  Banks,  Came 
ron,  Wilson,  Wade,  and  Company,  do  not  intend  to  go 
quite  so  far.  We  implore  you,  fellow-citizens  of  the 
North,  if  you  love  your  country,  to  hug  no  such  delusive 
hope  to  your  bosoms.  Those  whose  sentiments  we  have 
quoted  see  the  inevitable  tendency  of  this  Anti-Slavery 
agitation,  and  frankly  avow  their  objects.  But  those 
last-named  are  endeavoring  to  conceal  their  real  purposes, 
and,  by  exciting  and  misleading  the  masses,  make  them 
instruments  for  their  own  destruction.  The  Garrison 
school  and  the  Seward  school  are  identical  in  their  objects, 
instruments,  and  results.  They  trim  their  sails  to  the 
same  winds,  and  will  arrive  at  precisely  the  same  port. 
They  sing  the  same  song  of  "  Slave  aggression,"  "  Slave 
oligarchy,"  "Bleeding  Kansas,"  and  "Slave  democracy," 
and  they  sing  it  to  precisely  the  same  tune. 

Horace  Greeley,  the  pilot  of  the  disunion  craft,  on 
which  Seward  is  captain,  and  Giddings,  Sherman,  Banks, 
Cameron,  Wilson,  Wade,  Chase,  Fremont,  Bissell,  Went- 
worth,  Lovejoy  and  Company  have  taken  passage,  just  be 
fore  the  passage  of  the  Kansas  Act,  gave  his  command  for 
agitation  in  these  words  :  "  We  urge,  therefore,  unbending 
determination  on  the  part  of  the  Northern  members  hos 
tile  to  this  intolerable  outrage,  and  demand  of  them,  in 
behalf  of  peace,  in  behalf  of  freedom,  in  behalf  of  justice 
and  humanity,  resistance  to  the  last.  Better  that  confu 
sion  should  ensue — better  that  discord  should  reign  in  the 
national  councils — better  that  Congress  should  break  up 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.          17 

in  wild  disorder — nay,  better  that  the  Capitol  itself  should 
blaze  by  the  torch  of  the  incendiary,  or  fall  and  bury  all 
its  inmates  beneath  its  crumbling  ruins — than  that  this 
perfidy  and  wrong  should  be  finally  accomplished !" 

Seward,  who  is  the  very  life  and  soul  of  this  party,  as 
far  back  as  1848,  in  a  speech  made  at  Cleveland,  six  years 
before  the  passage  of  the  Kansas  Nebraska  Act,  gave  the 
world  a  very  clear  intimation  of  the  plan  of  operations 
which  they  are  now  carrying  out.  He  says:  "Correct 
your  own  error — that  slavery  has  any  constitutional  guar 
antee  which  may  not  be  released,  and  ought  not  to  be  re 
linquished.  Say  to  Slavery,  when  it  shows  its  bond  (that 
is,  the  Constitution)  and  demands  its  pound  of  flesh,  that, 
if  it  draws  one  drop  of  blood,  its  life  shall  pay  the  for 
feit."  *  *  *  *  "Do  all  this,  and  inculcate  all  this 
in  the  spirit  of  moderation  and  benevolence,  and  not  of 
retaliation  and  fanaticism,  and  you  will  soon  bring  the 
parties  of  the  country  into  an  effective  aggression  upon 
Slavery." 

Senator  Wilson  of  Massachusetts,  another  active  leader, 
in  a  lecture  delivered  at  Tremont  Temple,  Boston,  last 
Spring,  says  :  "  Send  it  abroad  on  the  wings  of  the  wind, 
that  I  am  committed,  fully  committed,  committed  to  the 
fullest  extent,  in  favor  of  immediate  and  unconditional 
abolition  of  Slavery  wherever  it  exists  under  the  authority 
of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States." 

And    again,   in    a   letter    dated   June   20th,   1855,   to 

Wendell  Phillips,  an  extract  from  one  of  whose  disunion 
o* 


i8          HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

speeches  we  have  given  above,  Wilson  says:  "I  hope,  my 
dear  sir,  that  we  shall  all  strive  to  unite  and  combine  all 
the  friends  of  freedom,  that  we  shall  forget  each  other's 
faults  and  short-comings  in  the  past,  and  all  labor  to 
secure  that  co-operation,  by  which  alone  the  slave  is  to  be 
emancipated,  and  the  dominion  of  his  master  broken, 
Let  us  remember  that  more  than  three  millions  of  bond 
men,  groaning  under  nameless  woes,  demand  that  we  shall 
cease  to  reproach  each  other,  and  that  we  labor  for  their 
deliverance." 

We  will  now,  without  comment,  give  a  few  additional 
extracts  from  speeches  and  writings  of  the  leaders  of  the 
Black  "Republican  Party,"  and  which  are  so  numerous, 
and  becoming  more  so  every  day,  that  we  shall,  for  the 
want  of  space,  be  able  to  quote  only  a  few. 

"  The  Union  is  not  worth  supporting  in  connection  with 
the  South." — HORACE  GREELY. 

"I  look  forward  to  the  day  when  there  shall  be  a 
servile  insurrection  in  the  South;  when  the  black  man 
armed  with  British  bayonets,  and  led  on  by  British  officers, 
shall  assert  his  freedom,  and  wage  a  war  of  extermination 
against  his  master ;  when  the  torch  of  the  incendiary  shall 
light  up  the  towns  and  cities  of  the  South,  and  blot  out 
the  last  vestige  of  slavery ;  and  though  I  may  not  laugh 
at  their  calamity,  nor  mock  when  their  fear  cometh,  yet  1 
shall  hail  it  as  the  dawn  of  a  political  millennium." — 
GIDDINGS. 

"I  am  willing,  in   a  certain  state  of  circumstances,  to 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.          19 

let  the  Union  slide." — N.  P.  BANKS,  once  Speaker  of  the 
U.  S.  House  of  Representatives,  now  Governor  of  Massa 
chusetts. 

"  In  the  case  of  the  alternative  being  presented,  of  the 
continuance  of  slavery  or  a  dissolution  of  the  Union,  I 
am  for  dissolution,  and  I  care  not  how  soon  it  comes." — 
RUFUS  B.  SPAULDING. 

"I  detest  slavery,  and  say  unhesitatingly,  that  I  am 
for  its  abolition  by  some  means,  if  it  should  send  all  the 
party  organizations  in  the  Union,  or  the  Union  itself,  to 
the  devil." — H.  M.  ADDISON,  of  the  American  Advertiser. 

"  Better  disunion,  better  a  civil  or  a  servile  war,  better 
any  thing  that  God  in  his  providence  shall  send,  than  an 
extension  of  the  bonds  of  slavery." — HORACE  MANN. 

"  If  peaceful  means  fail  us,  and  we  are  driven  to  the 
last  extremity,  where  ballots  are  useless,  then  we'll  make 
bullets  effective." — Hon.  ERASTUS  HOPKINS,  of  Massa 
chusetts. 

"  On  the  action  of  this  Convention  depends  the  fate  of 
the  country;  if  the  'REPUBLICANS'  fail  at  the  ballot- 
box,  we  will  be  forced  to  drive  back  the  slaveocracy 
WITH  FIRE  AND  THE  SWORD."  — Genl.  WATSON 
WEBB,  in  a  speech  in  the  Convention  that  nominated 
FREMONT,  and  which  was  received  with  "  TREMEN 
DOUS  APPLAUSE." 

"  The  remedy  is  to  go  to  the  polls,  and  through  the 
ballot-box  repudiate  the  infamous  platform  put  forth  at 
Cincinnati,  and  over  which  the  black  flag  of  slavery 


20 

waves  with  characteristic  impudence ;  and  failing  in  this, 
do  as  our  fathers  did  before  us — stand  by  our  inalienable 
rights,  and  drive  back,  with  arms,  those  who  dare  to 
trample  upon  our  inheritance."  —  From  Genl.  WEBB'S 
editorial  in  his  paper. 

"I  sincerely  hope  a  civil  war  may  burst  upon  the 
country.  I  want  to  see  American  slavery  abolished  in 
my  day.  It  is  a  legacy  I  have  no  wish  to  leave  my 
children.  Then  my  most  fervent  prayer  is,  that  England, 
France,  and  Spain  may  speedily  take  this  slavery-accursed 
nation  into  their  special  consideration,  and  when  the  time 
arrives  for  the  streets  of  the  cities  of  this  iland  of  the 
free  and  home  of  the  brave'  to  run  with  blood  to  the 
horses'  bridles,  if  the  writer  of  this  be  living,  there  will 
be  one  heart  to  rejoice  at  the  retributive  justice  of 
Heaven." — W.  0.  DUVALL,  "one  of  the  leading  Republi 
cans  of  New  York." 

"  It  is  the  duty  of  the  North,  in  case  they  fail  in  elect 
ing  a  President  and  Congress  that  will  restore  freedom  in 
Kansas,  to  revolutionize  the  government." — Resolution  of 
a  "  Black"  Republican  meeting  in  Wisconsin. 

"  By  all  her  regard  for  the  generations  of  the  future, 
by  her  reverence  for  God  and  man,  the  North  is  bound  to 
dissolve  her  present  union  with  kidnappers  and  murderers, 
and  form  a  Northern  Republic  on  the  basis  of  "No  union 
with  slaveholders." — HENRY  C.  WEIGHT,  writing  from 
Waukegan,  Illinois,  under  date  of  June  9th,  1856,  to  one 
of  the  Northern  papers. 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.  21 

"  Resolved*  that  the  slavery  advocates  may  prate  to 
their  heart's  content  about  the  '  Grlorious  Union,'  the 
mighty  advantages  resulting  therefrom,  the  dangers  to 
which  it  is  exposed,  arising  from  the  agitation  of  the 
slavery  question,  and  the  incalculable  evils  consequent 
upon  its  dissolution.  We,  as  friends  of  human  freedom, 
know  no  political  union,  and  acknowledge  none  but  that 
based  on  the  equality  and  brotherhood  of  man.  Every 
other  union  is  a  shadow  without  substance.  We,  more 
over,  in  all  sincerity  declare,  that,  if  the  Union  of  these 
United  States  is  built  upon  slavery,  it  is  not  worth 
preserving.  YEA,  ;LET  IT  BE  DASHED  INTO  A 
THOUSAND  FRAGMENTS,  rather  than  serve  as  a 
perpetuation  of  wholesale  robbery." — Resolution  passed 
at  a  Black  Republican  meeting  at  Farlow's  Grrove, 
Mercer  Qounty,  Illinois. 

"I  tell  you,  fellow-citizens,  the  Harper's  Ferry  out 
break  was  the  legitimate  consequence  of  the  teachings  of 
the  Republican  party." — Senator  WILSON,  of  Massachu 
setts,  in  a  speech  delivered  at  Syracuse,  New  York,  on 
the  28th  October,  1859. 

After  this  exhibit,  and  the  recollection  of  the  fact  that 
the  most  of  these  men  have  been  continued  for  years  in 
high  positions,  it  will  not  perhaps  surprise  the  public  to 
hear  that  the  people  of  Ohio  have  just  elected  Mr.  Denni- 
son,  governor,  who,  during  the  canvass,  is  reported  to  have 
made  the  following  declaration  in  one  of  his  public 
speeches 


22          HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

"  If  I  am  elected  governor  of  Ohio — and  I  expect  to 
be — I  will  not  let  any  fugitive  be  returned  to  Kentucky, 
or  any  other  slave  State ;  and  if  I  cannot  prevent  it  in 
any  other  way,  as  commander-in-chief  of  the  military  of 
the  State,  I  will  employ  the  bayonet — so  help  me  GrodT 

When  such  doctrines  as  these  are  announced  from  men 
high  in  office,  and  high  in  the  confidence  of  a  political 
party  which  threatens  to  get  possession  of  the  Govern 
ment,  shall  we  express  surprise  and  astonishment  that 
there  should  be  found  men  like  Brown  and  his  associates 
ready  and  willing  to  do  in  practice  what  Seward,  Wilson, 
Sumner,  Giddings,  and  Dennison,  tell  them  is  right,  just, 
and  holy  ?  Brown  was  caught  in  the  act,  and  suffered 
with  his  associates  the  penalty  of  the  law.  They  deserved 
their  fate ;  and  no  honest  patriot  has  a  tear  to  shed  over 
their  graves.  But  what  shall  we  say  of  the  master  spirits 
who  have  stimulated,  by  their  maddening  appeals  and 
treasonable  teachings,  these  deluded  men  to  rebellion  and 
bloodshed  ?  They  are  politicians  who  ask  for  public  confi 
dence,  and  would  have  the  people  intrust  to  their  hands 
the  administration  of  this  great  Government,  with  all  its 
cares,  interests,  and  responsibilities.  In  advance,  they 
notify  the  country  what  may  be  expected  from  them  if 
the  power  is  given  to  them.  It  certainly  requires  no  gift 
of  foreknowledge  to  read  the  future  of  this  country  if,  in 
an  evil  hour,  the  people  should  place  in  power  the  men 
and  party  who,  we  have  shown,  are  justly  responsible 
before  God  and  man  for  these  acts  of  violence  and  blood- 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.          23 

shed.  It  is  time  that  the  sober-minded  and  patriotic  men 
of  the  North  should  look  to  these  things.  The  issue  is 
precipitated  upon  us,  and  cannot  be  longer  postponed. 
We  must  meet  it,  and  save  the  country,  or  be  prepared 
to  suffer  in  the  general  ruin  which  these  reckless  men  are 
rapidly  bringing  upon  the  country. 

Now,  we  do  charge  the  Republicans  with  complicity  in 
the  Harper's  Ferry  outrage,  although  some  of  their  jour 
nals  try  to  deny  the  fact.  We  give  a  few  honest  senti 
ments  by  a  Republican  paper.  The  Winstead  (Ct.)  Herald 
is  a  Republican  paper,  and  has  fought  manfully  for  that 
party.  The  editor  is  an  Abolitionist,  and  has  no  conceal 
ment  to  make  of  his  views  in  regard  to  old  John  Brown. 
The  following  is  from  the  Winstead  Herald,  October  27 : 

"  And  here  we  may  as  well  say,  we  have  no  admiration 
for  that  class  of  Republican  newspapers  which  are  so  eager 
to  disclaim  and  disavow  all  fellowship  and  sympathy  for 
Old  John  Brown.  Did  they  stop  here,  we  could  be  patient 
with" them ;  but  when  they  go  further,  and  pelt  him  with 
the  titles  of  madman,  crazy,  muddled,  and  insane,  we  say 
out  upon  them  for  hypocrites  and  traitors — '  little  villains,' 
unworthy  to  lick  or  feel  the  foot  of  Old  John  Brown.  His 
plans  may  have  been  INJUDICIOUS — we  are  not  at  present 
able  to  judge  of  them  ;  but  it  is  plainly  evident  his  friends 
did  not  stick  ly  him  in  the  hour  of  trial  as  men  stood  by  each 
other  eighty  years  ago.  The  fault  may  not  be  his  but  OURS. 
When  men  pledged  their  lives,  their  fortunes,  and  their 
sacred  honor  eighty  years  ago,  they  meant  what  they  said. 


24  HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

and  performed  what  they  promised.  "We  are  sorrowfully 
suspicious  that  in  Old  Brown's  case  men  did  differently. 
At  all  events,  he  is  unsuccessful,  and  so  Republican" presses, 
the  country  over, 'fearful  that  their  party  would  somehow 
lose  a  vote  and  themselves  an  office,  fall  to  mouthing  Old 
Brown  as  heartily  as  twelve  months  since  they  praised, 
and  vied  with  each  other  in  denouncing  and  abusing  him. 
For  shame  !  Old  Brown  had  more  nobleness  in  his  soul, 
more  honesty  in  his  heart,  more  principle  in  his  action, 
more  courage  in  a  single  finger,  than  all  such  politicians 
from  Maine  to  Oregon.  He  dared  to  undertake  what  you 
in  the  security  of  your  sanctums  only  are  BOLD  TO  PREACH. 
He  failed ;  had  he  succeeded,  fifty  coming  years  would 
have  sanctified  his  grave  with  the  holiness  of  a  second 
Mount  Vernon,  granite  and  marble  columns  would  rise  to 
his  memory,  and  the  nation  would  add  another  to  her 
jubilee  days,  whereon  her  orators  would  utter  their  noblest 
sentences  in  eulogy  of  Old  John  Brown.  Alas !  it  was 
not  so  to  be — the  slave  toils  on  in  an  unloosened  chain,  the 
hero  gasps  in  a  dungeon,  and  the  Republican  press  cannot 
find  room  enough  for  their  renunciations  and  denunciations 
of  demented  Old  John  Brown. 

"  For  one,  we  confess  we  love  him — we  honor  him,  we  ap 
plaud  him.  He  is  honest  in  his  principles,  courageous  in 
their  defense,  and  we  have  yet  to  be  taught,  reading  from 
that  Book  of  Inspiration  we  all  acknowledge,  how  and 
wherein  Old  John  Brown  is  a  transgressor.  Do  with  him 
as  we  will,  his  ashes  will  some  day  be  gathered  to  a  hero's 


HELPERS*    IMPENDING    CRISIS   DISSECTED.  25 

tomb,  his  name  will  be  written  with  the  Winldereids,  and 
Tells,  and  Washingtons  of  history,  and  the  American 
school-boy  shall  yet  be  taught  to  listen  with  moistening 
eye  and  beating  heart  to  the  story  of  Old  John  Brown." 

It  must  be  evident  to  every  fair-minded  and  honorable 
man,  that  if  John  Brown  had  succeeded  in  his  aims  and 
objects,  that  the  Republican  Party  would,  as  we  quote 
above  from  an  editorial  of  the  "  Winstead  (Ct.)  Herald," 
celebrate  his  death  (that  is,  a  natural  death)  as  true  Amer 
ican  people  now  do  the  birthday  of  "  the  Father  of  his 
Country."  "  Granite  and  marble  columns  would  rise  to 
his  memory,  and  the  nation  would  add  another  to  her  jubi 
lee  days."  i 

No  later  than  the  26th  of  March,  Mr.  BLAKE,  of  Ohio, 
offered  the  following  resolution  in  the  House  of  Represen 
tatives,  to  stir  up  a  dissolution  of  the  Union. 

WHEREAS  the  chattelizing  of  humanity  and  the  holding  of 
persons  as  property  is  contrary  to  natural  justice  and  the  funda 
mental  principles  of  our  political  system,  and  is  notoriously  a 
reproach  to  our  country  throughout  the  civilized  world,  and  a 
serious  hindrance  to  the  progress  of  republican  liberty  among 
the  nations  of  the  earth  :  Therefore, 

fiesolved,  That  the  Committee  on  the  Judiciary  be,  and  the 
same  are  hereby,  instructed  to  inquire  into  the  expediency  of 
reporting  a  bill  giving  freedom  to  every  human  being,  and  in 
terdicting  slavery  wherever  Congress  has  the  constitutional 
power  to  legislate  on  the  subject. 

Mr.  SMITH,  of  Yirginia,  and  others,  objected.  TCries  from 
the  Democratic  benches  of  "  Don't  object !"] 


26         HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

Several  MEMBERS.     Let  the  resolution  be  read  again. 

The  resolution  was  again  read. 

Mr.  BLAKE.  I  trust  that,  as  the  resolution  is  one  of  refer 
ence  only,  there  will  be  no  objection. 

Mr.  BARKSDALE.     I  withdraw  my  objection. 

The  SPEAKER.  Is  there  objection  to  the  introduction  of  the 
resolution  ?  [Cries  of  "  Don't  object !"]  The  Chair  hears  no 
objection. 

Mr.  BRANCH.  I  object  to  the  preamble.  [Cries  of  "It  is 
too  late  !"] 

Mr.  HINDMAN.  I  hope  that  there  will  be  no  objection  to 
the  introduction  of  the  resolution.  Let  it  come  in,  and  let  us 
have  the  yeas  and  nays  upon  it.  Let  us  make  up  the  record. 

Mr.  SINGLETON.  I  hope  that  all  objection  will  be  with 
drawn.  I  want,  upon  the  vote  by  yeas  and  nays,  to  let  the 
country  see  how  many  Representatives  upon  this  floor  will  vote 
for  such  a  resolution. 

Mr.  BRANCH.  At  the  request  of  friends  all  round  me,  I 
withdraw  my  objection  to  the  preamble. 

Mr.  SINGLETON.  I  demand  the  yeas  and  nays  on  the  adop 
tion  of  the  resolution. 

The  yeas  and  nays  were  ordered. 

The  question  was  taken  on  the  adoption  of  the  resolution  ; 
and  it  was  decided  in  the  negative — yeas  60,  nays  109  ;  as  fol 
lows  : 

Yeas — Messrs.  -Charles  F.  Adams,  Aldrich,  Alley,  Bingham, 
Blair,  Blake,  Brayton,  Buffington,  Burlingame,  Burroughs, 
Butterfield,  Carey,  Carter,  Colfax,  Conkling,  Curtis,  Delano, 
Duell,  Edgerton,  Edwards,  Eliot,  Ely,  Farnsworth,  Foster, 
Frank,  Gooch,  Grow,  Gurley,  Hale,  Helmick,  Hoard,  Hum 
phrey,  Hutchins,  Francis  W.  Kellog,  DeWitt  C.  Leach,  Lee, 
Lovejoy,  McKean,  Morrill,  Olin,  Palmer,  Potter,  Pottle,  Rice, 
Sedgwick,  Sherman,  Somes,  Spaulding,  Spinner,  William  Stew 
art,  Tappan,  Tompkins,  Train,  Vandever,  Waldron,  Walton, 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.          27 

Cadwalader  C.  Washburn,  Elihu  B.  Washburne,  Wells,  and 
Windom — 60. 

Nays — Messrs.  Allen,  Thomas  L.  Anderson,  Ashmore, 
A  very,  Barksdale,  Barr,  Barrett,  Bocock,  Boteler,  Boyce, 
Branch,  Briggs,  Bristow,  Burch,  Burnett,  Campbell,  John 

B.  Clark,    Clopton,    Cobb,    John    Cochrane,    Cooper,    Cox, 
James    Craig,  Burton   Craige,    Crawford,   Curry,  H.  Winter 
Davis,  John  G.  Davis,  Reuben  Davis,  De  Jarnette,  Dunn,  Ed- 
mundson,   Etheridge,  Florence,  Fouke,  French,  Garnett,  Gar- 
trell,  Gilmer,  Hamilton,  Hardeman,  J.  Morrison  Harris,  John 
T.  Harris,  Hatton,  Htckman,  Hill,  Hindman,  Holman,  Hous 
ton,  Hughes,  Jackson,  Jenkins,  Jones,  Keitt,  Kenyon,  Kunkel, 
Lamar,  Landrum,   James   M.   Leach,  Leake,    Logan,    Love, 
Mallory,    Charles  D.    Martin,  Elbert    S.  Martin,   McKnight, 
McPherson,    McQueen,    McRae,    Miles,    Millson,    Millward, 
Montgomery,    Laban,    T.     Moore,    Sydenham     Moore,    Ed 
ward  Joy  Morris,  Isaac  N.   Morris,  Niblack,  Nixon,    Noell, 
Phelps,  Porter,  Prior,  Pugh,  Quarles,  Reagan,  Riggs,  James 

C.  Robinson,  Ruffin,  Schwartz,   Scott,  Scrantori,  Simms,  Sin 
gleton,  William  Smith,  Stallworth,  Stevenson,  James  A.  Stew 
art,   Stokes,   Taylor,  Thayer,  Thomas,  Trimble,   Underwood, 
Yalandigham,  Whiteley,   Winslow,    Woodson,  and  Wright — 
109. 

So  the  resolution  was  rejected. 

Pending  the  above  call, 

Mr.  DUNN  said  :  I  move  that  the  resolution  be  laid  upon  the 
table. 

Mr.  PHELPS.  That  motion  is  not  in  order.  The  Clerk  has 
proceeded  with  the  call  of  the  roll,  and  there  has  been  a  re 
sponse  ;  and  pending  the  call  of  the  roll,  no  other  business  is 
in  order.  The  roll-call  must  be  proceeded  with. 

Mr.  DUNN.     I  made  my  motion  in  time. 

Mr.  PHELPS.  The  call  of  the  roll  was  proceeded  with,  and 
the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  [Mr.  Adams]  answered  in 
the  affirmative. 


28          HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

Mr.  HINDMAN.     And  I  heard  his  response. 

The  SPEAKER.  The  Clerk  has  recorded  the  name  of  tU» 
gentleman  from  Massachusetts  in  the  affirmative. 

Mr.  PHELPS.  Then  the  motion  to  lay  upon  the  table  is  not 
in  order,  and  cannot  be  received. 

The  SPEAKER.     Such  is  the  decision  of  the  Chair.   The  mo 
tiou  of  the  gentleman  from  Indiana,  [Mr.  Dunn,]  that  the  reso 
lution  be  laid  upon  the  table,  was  not  made  until  the  call  of  the 
roll   was  commenced  and  there  was  a  response,  and  it  is  of 
course  out  of  order,  and  cannot  be  entertained. 

Mr.  BARR,  when  his  name  was  called,  said  :  I  desire  to  say 
a  word  in  reference  to  my  vote.  I  am  opposed  to  all  this  agi 
tation  of  the  slavery  question  in  every  sense.  ["Order!" 
"Order!"]  I  vote  "no." 

Mr.  BOULIGNY.  I  am  paired  off  with  Mr.  Ashley,  of  Ohio. 
If  I  were  to  vote  I  should  vote  "no." 

Mr.  FRANK  stated  that  Mr.  Burnham  was  paired  off  with 
Mr.  Sickles. 

Mr.  DAVIDSON.  My  colleague  on  the  Committee  on  En 
rolled  Bills  [Mr.  Theaker]  is  detained  from  the  House,  and  I 
cannot  vote  while  he  is  absent.  If  I  could  vote,  I  should  vote 
"no." 

Mr.  DAWES.  Last  week  I  paired  off  upon  all  questions  of 
this  character  with  Mr.  Webster,  of  Maryland ;  otherwise  I 
should  vote  in  the  affirmative. 

Mr.  FRANK  stated  that  Mr.  Ferry  was  paired  off  with  Mr. 
Maclay. 

Mr.  KILGORE.     I  desire  to  give  the  reasons 

Mr.  BURNETT.     I  object  to  all  debate. 

The  SPEAKER.     All  debate  is  out  of  order. 

Mr  KILGORE.  Will  the  gentleman'  allow  me  to  give  the 
reasons  for  my  vote  ? 

Mr.  BURNETT.  No,  sir;  vote  "aye,"  or  "no,"  without  ex 
planation. 

Mr.  MARTIN,  of  Virginia,  when  his  name  was  called,  said  : 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.          29 

I  ask  the  gentleman  from  Illinois,  [Mr.  Kilgore,]  to  give  his 
attention  a  moment.  I  believe  he  paired  me  off  with  Mr.  Case 
until  twelve  o'clock  to-day. 

Mr.  KILGORE.  That  is  so ;  and  I  would  be  glad,  as  Mr. 
Case  is  not  here,  if  the  gentleman  would  extend  his  pair  until 
Wednesday. 

Mr.  MARTIN,  of  Virginia.  As  I  have  a  right  to  vote,  I  vote 
"  no."  I  would  disgrace  my  district  should  I  make  an  explana 
tion. 

Mr.  STOKES  stated  that  Mr.  Maynard  was  paired  off  with 
Mr.  Stratton. 

Mr.  LOGAN  stated  that  his  colleague,  Mr.  McClernand,  was 
paired  off  with  Mr.  Kellogg,  of  Illinois,  for  the  day. 

Mr.  MOORE,  of  Kentucky.  I  desire  to  announce  the  pair  of 
my  colleague,  Mr.  Peyton,  (who  has  been  called  home  by  the 
sickness  of  his  daughter,)  with  Mr.  Wood,  from  the  24th  of 
March,  for  twenty  days. 

It  was  stated  that  Mr.  Fenton  was  detained  in  his  room  by 
illness. 

Mr.  MCKNIGHT  stated  that  Mr.  Morehead  was  paired  off 
with  Mr.  Lamar  on  all  questions  on  which  there  might  be  an 
antagonism  between  them. 

Mr.  BRABSON  stated  that  Mr.  Nelson  was  paired  off  with  Mr. 
Killinger. 

Mr.  CLARK,  of  Missouri.  I  desire  to  have  the  forty-second 
rule  read,  requiring  all  members  present  to  vote.  I  want  it  read 
now  during  the  call  of  the  roll,  as  I  notice  that  several  mem 
bers  have  declined  to  vote.  I  want  every  man  in  the  House  to 
vote  on  this  resolution. 

Mr.  STEWART,  of  Pennsylvania.     I  object. 

The  SPEAKER.  Objection  being  made,  the  rule  cannot  be 
read  now. 

Mr.  SICKLES.  I  have  paired  off  with  Mr.  Burnham,  of  Con 
necticut,  upon  this  and  kindred  questions ;  otherwise  I  would 
have  been  jrlad  to  extinguish  this  firebrand  by  voting  "no." 


30          HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

Mr.  STEVENS,  of  Pennsylvania.  I  was  paired  off  with  Mr. 
Clemens  until  to-day ;  but  as  he  is  not  here,  I  decline  to  vote. 

Mr.  GILMER  stated  that  Mr.  Yance  was  paired  off  with  Mr. 
Covode. 

Mr.  MCKNIGHT  stated  that  Mr.  Yerree  was  paired  off. 

Mr.  ENGLISH.  I  was  not  within  the  bar  of  the  House  when 
my  name  was  called ;  had  I  been  present,  I  should  have  voted 
"no." 

Mr.  KILLINGER  stated  that  he  was  paired  off  with  Mr.  Nel 
son. 

Mr.  FRENCH.  I  did  not  answer  when  my  name  was  called, 
because  I  was  not  certain  of  the  purport  of  the  resolution.  I 
have  examined  it,  and  regard  it  as  ill-advised  and  ill-considered. 

Mr.  HOWARD  stated  that  he  had  paired  off  with  Mr.  Case. 

Mr.  BONHAM.  I  merely  desire  to  say  that  perhaps  I  ought 
to  be  paired  with  the  gentleman  from  Ohio,  the  chairman  of 
the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  [Mr.  Staunton.]  A  friend 
of  his  called  on  the  honorable  gentleman  from  Yirgiriia  and 
myself  to-day,  and  spoke  about  procuring  a  pair  with  Mr.  Stan- 
ton.  I  would  have  paired  with  him  with  great  pleasure,  and 
will  pair  with  him  now,  although  I  do  not  know  that  I  have  a 
right  to  say  that  he  would  like  to  pair  off  with  me  on  this  ques 
tion.  If  his  friends  on  that  side  of  the  House  are  agreed,  I  am 
willing  to  take  that  course,  and  that  it  shall  be  regarded  as  a 
pair  from  the  beginning.  I  should  have  paired  with  him  if 
he  could  have  got  no  one  else.  I  have  only  to  say,  in  addition, 
that  I  would  have  voted  against  the  resolution. 

Mr.  BRABSON.  Then  I  say,  that,  if  I  had  been  entitled  to 
vote,  I  would  have  recorded  my  vote  in  the  negative. 

Mr.  DIMMICK.  If  I  had  been  within  the  bar,  I  would  have 
voted  "no." 

In  giving  the  votes  to  the  public,  on  this  firebrand  reso 
lution  of  Mr.  Blake,  copied  from  the  Congressional  Grlobe, 
we  do  so  t<^  substantiate  assertions  made  by  us :  that  the 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.          31 

ulterior  purpose  of  the  Republican  party  is  the  abolition 
of  slavery. 

To  the  mind  of  an  unprejudiced  spectator  of  this  com 
bat  between  constitutionality  and  anarchy,  the  fact  that 
sixty  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives  voted  for  it, 
is  a  significant  and  unmistakable  sign.  Too  truly  might 
we  repeat,  with  melancholy  fitness  of  application,  the  pro 
phetic  curse  of  Catiline.  There  is,  there  can  be,  no 
reason  assigned  why,  when  such  things  become  common, 

"  Massacre"  should  not 

Seal  our  "  eternal  destiny  in  blood." 
It  is  too  true,  that  although 

a  A  thousand  years  scarce  serves  to  form  a  State : 

An  hour  may  lay  it  in  the  dust." 
Now  we  proclaim,  secondly,  that  disunion  would  be  the 

inevitable  result  of  the  success  of  the  Black  Republican 
party. 

We  should  not,  fellow-citizens  of  the  North,  be  dealing 
with  you  with  that  candor  which  you  have  a  right  to  ex 
pect,  if  we  were  to  assert  that  the  great  mass  of  the  peo 
ple,  whose  minds  have  been  lashed  into  this  storm  of  fury 
and  fanaticism,  were  at  heart  the  enemies  of  their  country, 
or  desire  its  destruction.  Indeed,  I  know  that  such  is  not 
the  case.  But  the  danger  to  the  Republic  is,  therefore, 
none  the  less.  No  free  government  has  ever  yet  been  de 
stroyed  by  foreign  enemies,  as  long  as  the  people  under 
stood  their  true  interests. 

It  is  only  where  demagogues  have  been  able  to  take  ad 
vantage  of  the  honest  impulses  of  the  masses,  and  deceive 


32  HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

» 

and  mislead  them,  that  republics  have  ever  fallen  before 
the  assaults  of  their  enemies.  In  this  way  have  fondest 
hopes  of  mankind,  time  and  again,  been  blasted ;  and  it  is 
in  this  way  that  the  fairest  fabric  of  human  government 
ever  vouchsafed  to  man,  is  now  in  danger  of  being  de 
stroyed. 

What  is  the  American  Union  ?  Of  what  does  it  consist  ? 
And  on  what  is  it  based  ?  It  is  not  the  parchment  on 
which  the  Constitution  is  written.  It  is  not  made  up  of 
any  particular  formula  of  words,  and  it  cannot  be  pre 
served  by  the  power  of  the  sword.  The  very  life  of  the 
Union  is  in  the  hearts  of  the  American  people.  It  is  made 
up  of  mutual  forbearance  and  mutual  concession — of  hon 
est,  heartfelt  love  and  affection  for  a  common  country,  and 
every  portion  thereof.  And  this  affection  cannot  be  main 
tained  without  equal  and  exact  justice  to  the  whole  coun 
try,  and  to  every  citizen.  Our  brethren  of  the  North 
must  learn  to  attend  to  their  own  business,  and  refrain 
from  crimination,  and  this  ceaseless,  insulting,  maddening 
opprobrium,  heaped  upon  the  institutions,  customs,  habits, 
and  prejudices  of  their  neighbors,  their  brothers,  and  equal 
heirs  to  the  blessings  of  our  matchless  government. 

Professions  of  devotion  to  the  Union  amount  to  no 
thing  when  you  show  by  your  conduct  that  you  are  culti 
vating  feelings  and  principles  which  must  lead  to  its  de 
struction.  The  "Republican''  Convention,  by  a  kind  of 
solemn  mockery,  proclaim  their  devotion  to  the  Union, 
whilst  one  of  the  most  able  leaders  of  that  party,  judging 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DIRECTED.          33 

of  others  by  his  own  feelings,  declares  that  "  there  is 
really  no  union  between  the  North  and  the  South ;  and  he 
believed  no  two  nations  upon  the  earth  entertained  feel 
ings  of  more  bitter  rancor  toward  each  other,  than  these 
two  sections  of  the  Republic." 

Mr,  Giddings,  while  in  the  House,  reviled  the  institu 
tions  of  fifteen  States  of  this  Union,  trampled  upon  our 
habits,  customs  and  prejudices,  and  insulted  our  people, 
and  then  turned  to  our  representatives  there,  and  exclaim 
ed,  "  You  shall  not  dissolve  this  Union !"  and  threatened 
us  with  a  halter  if  we  attempted  to  withdraw. 

Senator  Wilson,  in  the  United  States  Senate,  denounced 
the  South,  but  at  the  same  time,  asserted  that  there  is  no 
danger  of  secession;^  that  the  South  could  not  be  kicked 
^ut  of  the  Union.  The  same  Senator,  in  a  speech  he  made 
in  the  covention  which  nominated  Fremont,  proclaimed,  as 
the  motto  of  the  party — "  Freemen  of  the  North  have  a 
right  to  govern  the  country." 

Twelve  of  the  thirteen  original  States  of  the  Union  were 
slave  States,  or  recognized  the  existence  of  slavery  among 
them.  While  the  free  States  were  in  the  minority,  all  was 
peace,  concord  and  harmony,  as  far  as  this  question  was 
concerned.  There  was  no  complaint  then  of  aggression  on 
the  one  part  or  the  other. 

We  of  the  South  have  never  attempted,  in  any  way,  to 
intrude  our  institutions  upon  the  people  of  the  North  ;  but, 
on  the  contrary,  our  statesmen  had  commenced,  in  good 
faith,  considering  as  to  the  best  method  of  loosening  the 


34  HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

fetters  of  the  slave,  and  of  finally  effecting  his  emancipa 
tion.  But  it  was  found  impracticable  to  do  so,  for  various 
reasons  which  we  will  speak  of  hereafter. 

The  fact  is,  no  sooner  had  the  North  obtained  the  ma 
jority  in  the  Confederacy,  than  the  senseless  and  unholy 
agitation  was  commenced,  which  has  fastened  the  bonds  of 
the  slave  so  that,  we  will  venture  the  assertion,  they  never 
will  be  loosened  by  peaceful  means. 

You  have  agitated  this  vexed  question  to  such  an  extent, 
that  we  tell  you,  candidly  and  honestly,  you  have  brought 
our  country  to  the  very  brink  of  ruin.  You  have  nearly 
majority  in  both  branches  of  Congress,  the  most  of  whom  are 
the  representatives  of  a  sectional  faction,  standing  on  a 
sectional  platform  antagonistic  to  the  institutions  of  the 
South.  Having  eighteen  millions  of  citizens,  while  we 
have  but  six  millions  of  whites,  with  your  prosperity  and 
numbers, — for  which  you  owe  gratitude  to  the  South, — you 
have,  instead  of  being  grateful,  now  become  arrogant,  over 
bearing,  and  insulting.  It  is  not  the  desire  of  the  South 
to  withdraw  from  the  Union,  if  she  can  remain  in  it  con 
sistent  with  her  own  sense  of  right,  justice,  and  diginity, 
and  so  long  as  the  Union  can  be  preserved  inviolate  of  the 
spirit  of  harmony  that  brought  it  into  being.  But  when 
she  is  to  be  deprived  of  her  just  rights,  and  her  equality  in 
the  Union,  then  she  is  in  favor  of  disunion. 

The  monstrous  doctrine  is  promulgated,  that  fifteen 
States  of  the  Union  are  to  be  wholly  disregarded,  and  that 
the  "  freemen  of  the  North  have  a  right  to  govern  this 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.          35 

country."  Govern  it,  how?  By  cultivating  sentiments 
of  affection  for  every  portion  of  -our  country  ?  By  equal 
and  just  laws,  and  the  recognition  of  the  perfect  equality 
of  all  the  States  of  the  Union  ?  Not  at  all !  On  the 
contrary,  they  propose  to  govern  it  by  usurpation,  and  the 
power  of  numbers  and  the  sword. 

They  propose,  under  the  plausible  cry  of  No  more  Slave 
States,  to  shut  us  out  from  those  magnificent  Territories 
acquired  by  the  bloodtof  our  fathers,  brothers,  sires  and  kin 
dred  as  well  as  by  those  of  the  North,  unless  we  will  abandon 
property  which  has  descended  to  us,  and  institutions  under 
which  our  fathers  and  we  have  lived  and  prospered.  Now, 
we  charge  that  the  Republican  party  propose  to  seize 
upon  the  Federal  Government,  and  reduce  us  to  subjec 
tion  under  their  lash.  They  propose  to  maintain  this 
Union  just  as  the  union  between  England  and  Ireland  is 
maintained — just  as  Great  Britain  attempted  to  maintain 
the  union  between  the  Mother  Country  and  her  American 
Colonies. 

Conservative  people  of  the  North,  we  implore  you  to 
pause,  and  ask  yourselves  whether  our  government  can  be 
preserved  in  any  such  way.  The  Republican  party  says 
it  can ;  hence  their  cry,  "  The  Federal  Union,  it  must  and 
shall  be  preserved."  "  Be  preserved"  for  their  own  bene 
fit,  and  not  for  the  benefit  of  the  whole  country.  We,  of 
the  South,  love  this  Union,  bought  at  so  great  a  sacrifice, 
and  we  would  deplore  a  severance  of  it  as  a  great  public 
calamity ;  for  in  the  language  of  President  Buchanan,  on 


36          HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

the  22nd  of  February,  1860,  at  the  Inauguration  of  the 
Statue  of  Washington,  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  "it  will 
teach  the  generations  to  come  that  man  is  incapable  of 
self-government."  But  no  matter  how  much  we  would  de 
plore  so  great  a  disaster,  we  will  never  submit  to  repeated 
wrongs  and  injustice,  and  the  drawing  of  so  odious  a  dis 
tinction  between  us  and  our  brethren  of  the  North.  We 
will  never  submit  to  degradation.  If  you  think  so,  try  the 
experiment ;  but  if  you  do,  it  will  be  at  your  own  hazard. 

A  distinguished  Northern  man  once  said,  "  Let  us  not 
be  deceived  by  the  cry  that  the  South  is  weak,  and  will 
not,  therefore,  risk  a  separation  ?  Our  fathers  were  less 
than  three  millions,  and  were  apparently  without  resources. 
In  the  South  are  six  millions  of  as  gallant,  high-spirited 
freemen  as  ever  trod  the  green  sod  of  our  mother  earth, 
with  all  the  elements  of  a  great  nation.  The  North,  it  is 
true,  if  united  in  a  war  of  aggression,  is  greatly  her  supe 
rior  in  numbers  and  wealth.  But  if  we  are  so  lost  to  all 
sense  of  honor  as  to  attempt  it,  we  never  could  reduce  the 
South  to  subjection  to  a  government  where  she  could  not 
obtain  justice.  We  might  possibly  stir  up  a  servile  war, 
desolate  her  now  happy  homes,  and  cause  her  cities  to  run 
rivers  of  blood.  It  might  be  possible  for  us  to  sweep  her 
whole  population  from  the  earth  ;  but  as  long  as  one  man 
was  found  alive,  his  arm  would  be  raised  to  strike  the  in 
vader,  and  an  enlightened  world  would  applaud  the  act." 

But  if  we  could  do  so  with  perfect  safety,  will  we  ask 
our  brethren  to  submit  to  any  such  degradation  ?  On  every 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.          37 

battle-field  of  our  country  the  men  of  the  North  and  the 
men  of  the  South  have  marched  side  by  side,  as  brothers, 
to  victory  and  glory.  "  They  have  poured  their  blood  into 
one  common  stream,  and  locked  in  each  others  arms,  they 
filled  one  common  grave."  And  shall  we  now  say  to 
them,  "  We  are  holier  than  they  ?  Shall  we  stand  up 
in  the  market-places,  and  thank  God  that  we  are  not  as 
these  publicans  and  sinners?  Are  we  purer  than  Wash 
ington  and  Jefferson,  Madison  and  Jackson,  Calhoun  and 
Clay,  all  of  whom  were  slaveholders,  and  lived  in  slave 
States  ?  And  will  we  refuse  to  live  under  a  government 
which  recognizes  them  and  their  children  as  our  equals  ? 
Do  we  wish  them  to  occupy  toward  us  a  position  similar 
to  that  occupied  by  Ireland  toward  England  ?  I  know 
your  hearts  too  well  to  have  any  doubts  as  to  the  answer. 

Having  treated  at  some  length  the  Republican  party, 
we  now  propose  to  consider  the  most  prominent  parts,  as 
well  as  the  fallacies  of  Helper's  u  Impending  Crisis  of  the 
South." 


CHAPTER   II. 

Statistical  Fallacies  of  Helper's  Book— The  True  State  of  tlie  Case 
— Large  Balance  in  favor  of  the  South — The  boasted  Free  Labor 
of  the  North  overshadowed  by  the  Productions  of  the  South — 
Report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  United  States'  Treasury— The  Re 
publican  Party  trying  to  Dissolve  the  Union  of  the  States— The 
South  in  favor  of  Perpetuating  the  Union  of  these  States  as  long 
as  their  rights  are  respected — Republican  Party  a  Sectional  Party 
— The  Proofs  from  Northern  Men. 

WE  will  now  consider  some  of  the  statistical  fallacies  of 
Helper's  book.  Not  only  does  this  incendiary  work 
abound  with  incentives  to  treason,  massacre,  and  bloody 
revolution,  but  the  statistics  are  fallacious,  and  evidently 
prepared  for  the  purpose  of  deceiving  the  ignorant  and 
fanatical  portion  of  the  community.  The  attentive  and 
intelligent  reader,  who  will  take  the  trouble  of  exam 
ining  them  closely,  will  easily  detect  their  fallacy.  By 
way  of  showing  the  superior  productiveness  of  the  free 
States  over  the  slave  States,  he  compares  the  value  of  their 
respective  cereals,  and  gives  at  page  22  of  the  Compen 
dium  the  following  results : 
(38) 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.          89 


CEREALS. 


Free  States $351,709,703 

Slave  States 306,927,067 


In  favor  of  the  free  States $44,782,636 

At  page  37  the  value  of  the  other  agricultural  products 
of  the  North  and  South  are  compared  as  follows  : 


OTHER   AGRICULTURAL   PRODUCTS. 


Free  States $214,422,523 

Slave  States 155,223,415 


In  favor  of  the  free  States $59,199,108 

The  aggregate  difference  between  all  the  agricultural 
products  of  the  South  and  North  thus  appear  to  be : 


TOTAL   PRODUCTS. 


Free  States $566,132,226 

Slave  States 462,150,482 


In  favor  of  the  free  States $103,981,744 

Now,  the  fallacy  of  this  deduction  will  be  made  clear 
by  turning  to  a  table  at  page  71  of  the  Compendium,  in 
•which  the  population  of  the  free  and  slave  States  is  com 
pared  : 

Northern  population 13,434,922 

Southern  population 9,612,979 

It  will  be  thus  seen  that  the  Northern  population  is  one 
and  a  half  that  of  the  Southern,  and  yet  it  does  not  pro 
duce  one-fifth  more.  According  to  the  foregoing  figures 


40          HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

the  North  ought  to  yield,  in  order  to  make  its  productions 
equal  to  the  South,  $645,682,722,  as  any  school-boy  can 
calculate  by  the  rule  of  simple  proportion  thus : 

Southern  Northern 

Population.  Population.  Answer. 

9,612,979        :        13,434,922     :  :      $462,150,482      :      $645,684,722 

The  true  state  of  the  case,  therefore,  is : 

What  they  ought  to  produce $645,685,722 

What  the  free  States  do  produce 566,132,226 


Against  the  free  States  and  in  favor  of  slave $39,452,596 

Again,  if  we  take  the  proportion  of  population  to  the 
square  mile,  the  figures  will  be  still  more  in  favor  of  the 
South.  According  to  one  of  the  tables  quoted  in  Helper's 
Compendium,  (at  page  71,)  the  population  of  the  South  is 
only  11.29  the  square  mile,  whereas  the  population  of  the 
North  is  21.91.  By  the  rule  of  proportion,  the  result  on 
this  basis  ought  to  be  : 

Pop.  Sq.  M.       Pop.  Sq.  M.  Answer. 

11.29        :        21.91         :     :          $462,150,482    :     $898,469,181 

Now  let  us  subtract  what  the  North  actually  produces 
from  what  it  ought  to  produce  on  this  basis,  as  follows : 

What  it  ought  to  produce $898,469,182 

What  it  actually  produced £66,132,226 


Against  the  free  States $332,336,956 

It  will  be  thus  seen,  according  to  Helper's  own  figures, 
that  there  is  a  balance  of  $332,336,956  against  the  free 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.          41 

States,  and  in  favor  of  the  slave,  instead  of  $103,981,744 
to  the  credit  of  the  Northern  States,  as  the  dishonest 
writer  pretends.  If  we  add  these  two  amounts  together, 
the  result  will  show  that  he  lies  for  abolition  to  the  trifling 
sum  of  $436,318,700— four  hundred  and  thirty-six  mil 
lions,  three  hundred  and  eighteen  thousand,  seven  hundred 
dollars  ? 

Such  is  a  specimen  of  his  statistics,  on  which  as  little 
reliance  is  to  be  placed  as  on  his  other  facts  and  arguments 
against  the  South.  The  book  is  a  tissue  of  falsehoods 
worthy  of  the  bad  cause  for  which  it  is  written,  and  its 
endorsement  is  a  disgrace  to  all  who  have  given  it  the 
sanction  of  their  names. 

The  ingenuity  of  man  never  devised  a  more  effectual  or 
plausible  mode  of  deceiving  and  misleading  the  human  un 
derstanding,  than  a  shrewd  arrangement  of  figures.  By 
this  device,  Helper  has,  by  an  assumed  fairness  in  forming 
statistical  tables,  been  able  to  render  his  book  plausible  to 
many  persons  who  are  too  apt,  in  most  matters,  to  take 
whatever  is  presented  to  their  understanding  in  the  shape  of 
figures,  as  so ; — believing  it  to  be  a  work  of  too  much  labor 
for  figures  to  lie. 

The  analysis,  however,  of  Helper's  figures,  shows  a 
studied  and  wanton  misrepresentation  of  important  facts. 
In  one  table  he  arranges  the  respective  products  of  the 
North  and  South,  and  very  clearly,  *s  he  asserts,  shows 
that  white  labor  is  much  more  productive  ^\an  slave  labor. 
It  is  due  to  the  superior  ingenuity  an^  ^VJUl  of  the  white 
4* 


42          HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

man  over  the  dull  and  torpid  African  to  admit  that  fact ; 
but  we  deny  that  Helper  has  honestly  shown  it ;  upon  the 
contrary  we  show  that,  by  a  fair  comparison  of  the  num 
ber  of  inhabitants  to  the  square  mile,  the  South  produces' 
much  more  than  the  North. 

We  are  aware  that  prejudice  has  much  to  do  with  warp 
ing  a  man's  judgment,  and  blinding  his  understanding; 
but  we  cannot  reconcile  it  with  a  true  spirit  of  patriotism, 
or  high-toned  sense  of  honor,  when  the  emanations  of  that 
prejudice  are  attempted  to  be  palmed  off  upon  the  public 
as  historical  facts.  We  will  not  allow  the  bias  of  our  pre 
judices  to  claim  (notwithstanding  the  facts  would  warrant 
us  in  doing  so)  that  slave  labor  is  more  productive  than 
white,  but  we  claim  that  it  is  better  adapted  to  the  corn, 
cotton,  sugar  and  rice  fields  than  white  labor,  for  the 
reason  that  the  system  of  management  suits  better,  and 
their  peculiar  nature  is  better  suited  to  the  climate  where 
those  products  are  most  abundantly  grown. 

No  man  but  a  bigot  would  deny  but  there  are  some  men 
among  the  large  number  of  producers  at  the  South  who 
calculate  and  investigate  as  to  the  most  expeditious  and 
effectual  mode  of  accumulating  wealth, — they  experiment, 
and  institute  a  rigid  comparison  of  the  respective  produc 
tiveness  of  slave  and  white  labor,  and,  doubtless,  if  their 
practice  had  proven  that  the  latter  was  the  most  remuner 
ative,  they  would  have  adhered  to  it. 

With  such  manifest  unfairness,  as  the  analysis  of  the 
etatistics  which  we  have  here  given  shows,  it  would  war- 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED,          43 

rant  the  suspicion  and  belief  that  this  "Helper  Book," 
like  most  of  the  arguments  of  the  leading  "  Black  Repub 
licans,"  is  a  mere  cunningly  devised  compilation  of  spirited 
extracts  from  sundry  speeches,  messages,  etc.,  of  prominent 
men,  and  forced  statistics,  gotten  up  designedly  to  inflame 
and  mislead  the  Northern  masses. 

The  exportable  products  of  the  fifteen  Slave  States 
amount  annually  to  $270,000,000  exclusive  of  gold  and 
foreign  merchandise  re-exported;  and  their  annual  demand 
for  the  productions  of  other  countries  is  about  $225, 
000,000.  There  are  80,000  cotton  plantations  in  the 
South,  and  the  aggregate  value  of  their  annual  products 
is  $128,000,000.  There  are  16,000  tobacco  plantations, 
and  their  annual  products  amount  to  $15,000,000.  There 
are  2,600  sugar  plantations,  the  products  of  which  average 
annually  $13,000,000.  There  are  700  rice  plantations, 
which  yield  annually  a  revenue  of  $6,000,000.  Bread- 
stuffs  and  provisions  yield  $78,000,000 ;  the  products  of 
the  forest  amount  to  $10,7000,000 ;  manufactures  yield 
$31,000,000;  and  the  products  of  the  sea  yield  $3,356,000; 
exclusive  of  $30,000,000  we  send  to  the  North ! 

These  facts  and  figures  rest  mostly  upon  the  authority 
of  the  Southern  Cultivator,  De  Bow's  Review,  and  the 
speeches  in  Congress  of  Senator  Hammond,  and  Hon.  L. 
M.  Keitt,  M.C.  of  South  Carolina.  But  we  are  happy  to 
find  them  sustained  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  in 
a  late  Report ;  and  laid  before  Congress  by  "  His  Ex 
cellency  President  Buchanan,"  and  by  him  endorsed. 


44          HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  in  a  late  Report,  sets 
down  the  exportation  of  domestic  produce,  exclusive  of 
specie,  at  $266,438,051.  Of  this  amount,  cotton,  which 
is  exclusively  from  the  South,  furnishes  $128,382,351 ;  to 
bacco  gives  $12,221,843,  and  rice  yields  $2,390,233,— 
both  of  which,  also,  are  exclusively  Southern ;  breadstuffs 
and  provisions  are  estimated  at  $77,686,455 ;  products  of 
the  forest  at  $10,694,184;  of  manufactures  at  $30,970,992; 
of  the  sea  at  $3,356,797.  Now  take  $128,382,351  for  the 
value  of  cotton,  and  $12,221,843  for  tobacco,  and  $2, 
390,233  for  rice,  which  are  exclusively  Southern  staples, 
and  we  have  the  sum  of  $142,994,427,  which  the  South 
contributes  to  the  exportations  of  the  country,  in  these 
staple  products,  which,  in  the  Union,  are  only  raised  within 
her  limits.  But  her  contribution  does  not  stop  here.  Of 
the  $77,686,455  furnished  by  breadstuffs  and  provisions, 
she  contributed  at  least  $25,000,000 ;  of  the  products  of 
the  forest,  in  the  shape  of  lumber,  etc.,  she  contributed 
about  $5,000,000,  or  one-half  of  the  exportation.  Then 
$30,000,000,  added  to  the  $142,994,427,  which  we  have 
already  shown  was  furnished  by  cotton,  tobacco  and  rice, 
make  up  $172,994,427,  out  of  the  $266,438,051,  to  which 
the  whole  domestic  exportation  amounts.  This  would  leave 
$93,443,051  for  the  domestic  exportation  from  all  the  free 
States.  But  this  is  more  than  they  are  entitled  to.  Of 
the  30,970,992  contributed  by  domestic  manufactures,  at 
least  $10,000,000  is  the  value  of  the  raw  material  not 
grown  at  the  North.  This  leaves  only  $83,442,624  as  the 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.          45 

contribution  of  the  free  States,  against  $172,994,427,  as 
the  contribution  of  the  Southern  or  slave  States,  to  the 
domestic  exportation  of  the  country. 

Where  is  Mr.  Helper,  and  his  boasted  free  labor  of  the 
North  ?  Echo  answers, — Where  ?  Seeing  this,  well  may 
the  South  exclaim,  "  Quse  regio  interiis  nostri  non  plena 
laboris." 

The  following  we  quote  from  The  Constitution,  Dec.  7, 
which  speaks  for  itself: 

"We  know  of  no  subject  of  greater  interest  to  the  public, 
and  especially  to  the  statesman,  than  the  information  that 
will  soon  be  laid  before  the  country  by  the  proper  depart 
ment  of  the  Government,  embracing  the  imports  and 
exports  for  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  30,  1859.  At  all 
times  important,  it  is  doubly  so  at  the  present,  on  account 
of  the  commercial  revulsion  through  which  we  have  passed, 
besides  the  reliable  facts  presented  in  connection  with  our 
modified  tariff  laws  which  went  into  operation  July  1st, 
1857.  Our  trade,  as  exhibited  by  the  imports  and  exports, 
has  been  highly  satisfactory  to  all  interests,  and  added 
another  demonstration  of  the  wisdom  of  that  time-honored 
democratic  policy  which  inculcates  the  least  possible 
burdens  of  taxation  consistent  wtih  an  economical  adminis 
tration  of  the  General  Government.  But  it  is  not  in 
reference  to  this  branch  of  the  subject  that  we  propose  at 
this  time  to  dilate.  We  have  another  object,  and  one 
which  we  trust  will  be  appreciated  by  all  imbued  with  the 
spirit  of  that  Constitution  which  was  ordained  and  estab- 


46  HELPER  S   IMPENDING   CRISIS   DISSECTED. 

lished  i  in  order  to  form  a  more  perfect  Union,  establish 
justice,  insure  domestic  tranquillity,  provide  for  the 
common  defence,  promote  the  general  welfare,  and  secure 
the  blessings  of  liberty'  to  its  framers  and  their  posterity. 
All  those  appeals  which  have  heretofore  admonished  us — 
the  patriots  of  the  Revolution,  the  common  suffering  of 
our  ancestors,  our  common  toils  and  dangers,  our  common 
blessings  and  victories,  the  tombs  of  our  statesmen  and 
warriors,  Mount  Vernon,  the  Hermitage,  and  Ashland — 
all  seem  to  have  lost  their  power,  and  we  are  drifting  to 
some  unknown  catastrophe,  pregnant  with  every  thing  but 
safety. 

"In  view  of  these  considerations,  we  have  thought  it 
not  inappropriate  to  give  the  exports  for  the  last  fiscal 
year,  as  furnished  by  the  different  sections  of  the  Re 
public,  in  the  hope  that  our  common  interest,  so  signally 
displayed  by  these  figures,  will  arrest  that  aggressive  spirit 
which  is  hastening  all  to  one  undistinguished  ruin. 

"  The  exports  of  the  last  fiscal  year,  embracing  specie 
and  American  produce,  amounted  to  $335,894,385;  in 
addition  to  which  we  also  exported  something  over  twenty 
millions  of  foreign  produce,  making  all  of  our  exports 
above  $356,000,000,  and  exceeding  our  imports  for  the 
same  period  a  fraction  over  $18,000,000. 

The  specie  and  American  produce  exported  were $335,894,385 

Specie 57,502,305 


The  amount  of  produce  consequently  exported  was  ...     278,392,080 
ic  We  propose  to  classify  the  amount  furnished  by  each 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.          47 

section  as  far  as  possible,  by  giving  the  amount  furnished 
exclusively  by  the  free  States,  the  amount  furnished  by 
both  the  free  and  slave  States,  (it  is  impossible  to  separate 
and  designate  the  respective  amount  furnished  by  each,) 
and  the  amount  furnished  exclusively  by  the  slave  States. 

Free  States  exclusively — 
Fisheries— embracing  spermaceti  and  whale  oils,  dried 

and  salt  fish $4,462,974 

Coal 653,536 

Ice...  164,581 


Total  free  States $5,281,091 

Free  and  slave  States — 

Products  of  the  forest — embracing  staves  and  head 
ings,  shingles,  boards,  plank,  and  scantling,  hewn 
timber,  other  timber,  oak  bark  and  other  dye,  al 
manufactures  of  wood,  ashes,  ginseng,  skins,  anc 

furs 12,099,967 

Product  of  agriculture — 

Of  animals — beef  tallow,  hides,  horned  cattle,  butter, 
cheese,  pork,  hams  and  bacon,  lard,  wool,  hogs, 

horses,  mules,  and  sheep 15,549,817 

Vegetable  food- 
Wheat,  flour,  Indian  corn,  Indian  meal,  rye  meal,  rye, 
oats,  and  other  small  grain,  and  pulse,  biscuit  or 

shop  bread,  potatoes,  apples,  and  onions 22,437,578 

Manufactures — 

Refined  sugar,  wax,  chocolate,  spirits  from  grain,  do. 
molasses,  do.  other  materials,  vinegar,  beer,  ale, 
porter  and  cider  in  casks  and  bottles,  linseed  oil, 
household  furniture,  carriages  and  parts,  railroad 
cars  and  parts,  hats  of  furs  and  silk,  do.  palm  leaf, 
saddlery,  trunks  and  valises,  adamantine  and  other 
candles,  soap,  snuff,  tobacco  manufactured,  gun 
powder,  leather,  boots  and  shoes,  cables  and  cordage, 
salt,  lead,  iron,  pig,  bar,  nails,  castings,  and  all 
manufactures  of,  copper,  brass,  and  manufactures  of, 
drugs  and  medicines,  cotton  piece  goods,  printed  or 


18  HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

colored,  white  other  than  duck,  duck  and  all  manu 
factures  of,  hemp,  thread,  bags,  cloth,  and  other 
manufactures  of,  wearing  apparel,  earthen  and  stone 
ware,  combs  and  buttons,  brooms  and  brushes  of 
all  kinds,  billiard  tables  and  apparatus,  umbrellas, 
parasols  and  sunshades,  morocco  and  other  leather 
not  sold  by  the  pound,  fire-engines,  printing  presses 
and  type,  musical  instruments,  books  and  maps, 
paper  and  stationery,  paints  and  varnish,  jewelry, 
other  manufactures  of  gold  and  silver,  glass,  tin, 
pewter,  and  lead,  marble  and  stone,  bricks,  lime, 
and  cement,  India-rubber  shoes  and  manufactures, 

lard  oils,  oil  cake,  artificial  flowers $30,197,274 

Articles  not  enumerated,  manufactured 2,274,652 

Raw  produce 1,858,205 


Total,  free  and  slave  States $84,417,493 

Slave  States,  exclusively — 

Cotton 161,434,923 

Tobacco 21,074,038 

Rosin  and  turpentine 3,554,416 

Rice 2,207,148 

Tar  and  pitch 141,058 

Brown  sugar 196,935 

Molasses 75,699 

Hemp 9,279 


Total,  slave  States $188,693,496 

RECAPITULATION. 

Free  States,  exclusively 5,281,091 

Free  and  slave  States 84,417,493 

Plave  States,  exclusively 188,693,496 


Total $278,392,080 

"If  any  one  will  take  the  trouble  to  analyze  the  articles 
embraced  in  the  amount  of  $84,417,493,  belonging  alike 
to  the  labor  of  the  free  and  slave  States^  he  will  find  that 
at  least  one-third  is  as  justly  the  products  of  slave  labor. 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.          49 

We  have,  therefore,  the  fact  that  out  of  $278,392,080  of 
exports  of  domestic  industry,  over  $200,000,000  of  this 
sum  is  furnished  by  those  States  known  as  slave  States." 

We  will  now  point  out  the  folly  of  a  comparison  made 
by  Helper  between  the  northern  hay  and  the  southern 
cotton  crops — of  course  disparaging  to  the  latter.  We 
will  show  that  he  grossly  misrepresents  the  Census  state 
ment  of  1850 ;  and  also  show,  that,  even  had  his  quota 
tions  been  correct,  the  inferences  he  drew  from  the  facts 
were  perfectly  ridiculous.  Helper  tells  the  public  that  the 
hay  crop  of  1850  was  worth  sixty-four  millions  of  dollars 
more  than  the  cotton  crop  of  that  year,  or  about  twice  the 
value  of  the  latter.  Now,  Helper  did  not  consider  that 
the  South,  after  supporting  itself,  sent  away  a  large  part 
of  its  cotton,  for  which  the  country — North  as  largely  as 
the  South — received  a  handsome  return  in  desirable  for 
eign  products.  He  did  not — of  course  he  could  not — show 
any  export  of  hay  to  foreign  ports.  So  that,  one  of  three 
things,  as  regards  the  uses  of  this  hay  crop,  is  true :  either 
the  hay  was  consumed  at  home,  toward  the  support  of 
Northerners :  or  was  shipped  to  the  South ;  or  was  converted 
into  beef  and  cattle  for  shipment  to  the  South  or  to  for 
eign  countries. 

If  consumed  at  home,  it  cannot  be  allowed  to  make  a 
figure  in  such  a  statement,  for  the  Northerners,  while  con 
suming  it,  were  doing  no  more  than  the  Southerners 
while  consuming  their  own  products.  When  consumed, 
that  was  an  end  of  it,  just  in  the  way  an  end  was  put  to 


50          HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

the  hog  and  hoininy  raised  and  consumed  on  the  planta 
tions  of  the  South.  If  sent  to  the  South,  whether  in  the 
shape  of  hay  or  beef,  the  fact  may  be  easily  offset  by  the 
shipments  to  the  North  of  cotton,  rice  and  tobacco.  If 
shipped  abroad,  the  comparison  is  a  just  one.  It  is  per 
fectly  fair  to  compare  the  value  of  the  hay  shipped  abroad 
with  the  cotton  shipped  abroad,  because  that  is  comparing 
surpluses  with  surpluses,  or  what  each  section  has  to  spare 
after  subsisting  itself.  Well,  in  1852,  the  South  sent 
away  of  cotton  $112,000,000 ;  the  same  year  the  North 
and  South  sent  away  $6,000,000  worth  of  "  provisions," 
including  as  well  the  hog  product  as  the  cattle  product. 
In  1859,  the  South  sent  away  in  cotton  $161,000,000 ; 
while  the  North  and  the  South  sent  away  fifteen  millions 
of  "provisions."  This  is  the  correct  way  of  making  the 
comparison.  If  one  desired  to  show  the  comparative 
thriftiness  of  two  merchants,  he  would  compare  their  net 
earnings  at  the  end  of  the  year.  He  would  not  compare 
their  gross  earnings  ;  since  though  it  might  be  true  that 
the  gross  earnings  of  one  of  them  were  much  larger  than 
those  of  the  other,  it  might  be  true  also  that  the  expenses 
of  the  business,  and  of  supporting  its  conductor  had  en 
tirely  absorbed  those  larger  earnings,  while  the  smaller 
could  show  a  handsome  balance  after  deducting  all  ex 
penses. 

We  now  proceed  to  another  batch  of  Helper's  statistics. 
His  assumption  is,  that  the  average  value  of  land  in  the 
South  now  is  $5.34  per  acre.  "  Emancipate  your  slaves 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.          51 

on  Wednesday  morning,  and  on  Thursday  following  the 
value  of  lands  will  have  increased  to  an  average  of  $28.07 
per  acre."  Here  is  the  table  : 

Estimated  value  of  slaveholders'  lands,  after  slavery 

shall  have  been  abolished $4,856,783,680 

Present  value  of  slaveholders'  lands 923,248,160 


Probable  aggregate  enhancement  of  value $3,933,535,520 

Having  thus  figured  out  or  "marked  up"  the  value  of 
Southern  lands,  he  presents  another  of  his  precious  tables 
as  follows : 

Net  increase  of  value  which  it  is  estimated  will  ac 
crue  to  slaveholders  in  consequence  of  the  aboli 
tion  of  slavery. $3,933,535,520 

Putative  value  of  slaves 1,600,000,000 


Slareholders'  estimated  net  landed  profits  of  emanci 
pation ,   $2,333,535,520 

Yes,  set  the  slaves  free  on  Wednesday  night,  and  you 
will  suddenly  find  yourselves  next  morning,  at  daylight, 
about  five  times  richer  than  you  were  when  you  went  to 
bed  the  night  before.  We  need  say  nothing  to  expose  the 
folly  and  stupidity  of  such  a  representation.  It  is  a  gross 
caricature  of  the  whole  learning  of  statistics. 

Possibly,  after  sharing  the  experience  of  Jamaica,  lands 
might  rise  in  one  hundred  years,  or  say  the  lifetime  of 
three  generations,  to  the  value  he  fixes  on  them.  The 
present  slaveholders  or  their  descendants  would  not  feel 
the  rise,  we  may  be  pretty  sure.  But  this  consideration 
aside,  let  us  see  how  the  account  would  really  stand,  allow- 


52          HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

ing  free  swing  to  Helper's  emancipation  scheme.  Here 
are  our  statistics,  and  we  think  they  are  quite  good 
enough  for  the  occasion : 

Net  value  of  land  (100  years  hence  J  presuming 

Helper's  rise $2,333,535,220 

Exports  of  cotton  this  year,  say  $200,000,000,  would 

give  for  100  years 20,000,000,000 


Dead  loss  to  the  South $17,666,464,780 

Now  look  at  Helper's  figures,  and  then  at  ours.  Is  not 
the  contrast  an  awful  one  for  a  nervous  man's  contempla 
tion  ?  Over  seventeen  billions  of  hard  dollars  lost  in  con 
sequence  of  heeding  Helper  !  Nor  is  this  the  whole  loss, 
for  we  have  made  no  account  of  the  rice,  tobacco  and  na 
val  stores  exported  from  the  South.  But  perhaps  some 
Helperite,  with  due  gravity,  will  object  that  we  do  not 
allow  the  South  to  export  any  thing  after  emancipation. 
The  above  calculation  does  not ;  and  probably  the  South 
would  have  but  little  to  export  for  a  long  while  after  such 
a  catastrophe.  But  supposing  the  South  in  her  altered 
state  to  export  the  same  amount  the  North  now  does,  we 
may  take  off  one-third  of  the  seventeen  billions,  and  then 
be  liberal  to  the  other  side.  That  deducted,  the  dead  loss 
of  the  South  would  be  only  about  twelve  billions.  We  by 
no  means  desire  to  have  it  understood  that  we  present  our 
table  as  a  specimen  vof  the  way  in  which  statistics  ought 
to  be  used.  But  as  showing  up  the  Helperian  style  of 
reaching  results,  and  as  a  fair  offset  to  his  arithmetic,  they 
answer  our  present  purpose. 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.          53 

We  have  exposed  the  worthlessness  of  this  publicui.,,,:.  ... 
reference  to  the  claim  set  up  for  it  by  its  friends,  that  it 
is  statistically  valuable.  Even  Mr.  Seward  could  bring 
himself  to  pronounce  such  a  judgment  upon  it. 

We  might  prolong  our  review  with  many  reflections 
which  these  facts  awaken.  We  might  point  to  other  facts 
connected  with  the  subject  to  show  the  interested  depend 
ence  of  one  section  upon  another,  apart  from  the  produce 
which  each  sends  abroad.  We  might  at  some  length  and 
with  some  feeling  portray  the  folly  of  continuing  our  dis 
sensions  and  discords,  as  sections  of  this  great  Republic. 
But  we  forbear.  We  submit  these  figures  u,nd  facts  for 
those  who  think  and  are  governed  by  re  ^eson,  no  matter 
where  their  lot  has  been  cast,  whether  North  or  South, 
East  or  West. 

Says  Helper  on  the  16th  page  of  the  Compendium : — 

"  Too  long  have  we  yielded  a  submissive  obedience  to  the 
tyrannical  domination  of  an  inflated  oligarchy ;  too  long 
have  we  tolerated  their  arrogance  and  self-conceit ;  too 
long  have  we  submitted  to  their  unjust  and  savage  exac 
tions.  Let  us  now  wrest  from  them  the  sceptre  of  power, 
establish  liberty  and  equal  rights  throughout  the  land,  and 
henceforth  and  forever  guard  our  legislative  halls  from  the 
pollutions  and  usurpations  of  pro-slavery  demagogues." 

Will  any  true-hearted  American   own   sympathy  with 

such  sentiments,  or  countenance,  encourage  and  support 

the  designs  here  avowed?     Will  not  honest  Republicans 

pause  and  reflect  upon  the  fearful  tendency  of  this  spirit 

5* 


54  HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

of  sectionalism,  and  their  duty  as  patriots  and  Christians, 
to  aid  in  arresting  it  ere  it  be  too  late — ere  the  Union  is 
overthrown,  and  the  light  of  American  liberty  is  extin 
guished  in  blood  and  carnage,  with  the  torch  of  civil  war 
as  our  only  beacon  upon  the  dark  sea  of  anarchy  and 
ruin  ? 

But,  alas !  we  fear  we  are  deceived  as  to  the  honesty  of 
Republicans :  their  minds  have  become  inflated  against  us, 
wrought  so  by  the  treasonable  teachings  of  their  "  leaders." 

Can  the  North  point  out  a  single  tyrannical  act  that  the 
South  has  ever  been  guilty  of?  If  you  can,  we  are  will 
ing  to  acknowledge  and  confess  it.  Mr.  Helper  makes 
the  assertion,  but  does  not  state  how  we  have  been  "tyran 
nical" 

Republican  factions  at  the  North  (for  we  have  good 
reason  to  thank  God  that  they  do  not  exist  South,)  say 
that  the  "  Democratic  party"  is  a  "  slave-democracy."  If 
it  be  a  "  slave-democracy"  because  it  is  a  national  and  con 
servative  party,  recognizing  the  South  as  having  as  many 
rights  in  the  Union  as  the  North,  then  the  Northern  peo 
ple  are  to  blame  themselves,  if  they  have  "  yielded  a  sub 
missive  obedience  to  the  tyrannical  domination  of  an 
inflated  oligarchy."  because  they  have  by  their  votes  sus 
tained  it.  By  Mr.  Helper's  own  argument  he  shows  that 
the  Republican  party  is  sectional.  We  know  that  the 
Democratic  party  is  charged  by  the  Republicans  as  being 
sectional.  Now  we  will  see  which  is  the  sectional  and 
which  is  the  national  party ;  and,  in  doing  so,  we  cannot  do 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.          55 

better  than  quote  an  extract  from  a  speech  of  the  Hon. 
Horatio  G.  Seymore  of  New  York,  delivered  on  the  24th 
day  of  August,  1859,  at  St.  Paul's,  Minnesota,  a  man  who 
has  always  distinguished  himself  by  his  patriotism,  &c. 

Said  Mr.  Seymore — "  You  have  seen  the  great  men  of 
this  Republican  party  go  up  to  their  National  Conventions. 
When  the  roll  of  the  States  was  called,  there  was  no  man 
to  answer  for  the  State  where  Jackson's  ashes  lie — there 
was  no  man  to  respond  when  the  land  of  Sumpter  and  Ma 
rion  was  called.  (Applause.)  But  how  will  it  be  when  our 
next  Democratic  Convention  is  held  ?  You  will  see  there 
no  such  spectacle  as  this. .  When  we  call  the  roll  of  States 
which  compose  this  confederacy,  every  commonwealth, 
from  Maine  down  to  young  Minnesota,  and  still  younger 
Oregon,  will  attest  the  nationality  of  our  party  by  the 
presence  of  its  representatives."  (Cheers.) 

Now,  if  the  Democratic  party  have  had  to  undergo  some 
defeats,  it  is  not  because  it  was  "  sectional"  but  it  has  been 
in  consequence  of  some  mere  local  issue  or  fanaticism  ;  for, 
when  it  triumphed  over  the  Republican  party  in  1856, 
when  that  party  made  its  first  issue  before  the  country, 
the  Democratic  party  triumphed  over  its  opponents  and  do 
mestic  traitors  (Republicans)  on  sound  constitutional  prin 
ciples. 

Democracy  possesses  a  vitality,  a  spirit  of  coherence 
which  nothing  can  destroy.  Stricken  down  in  one  place, 
it  ris'es  in  another,  and  gathers,  from  the  very  circum 
stances  of  its  defeat,  new  elements  of  vigor  and  success. 


56          HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

The  reason  of  this  is,  it  is  a  national  constitutional  party, 
and  its  members  always  think  more  of  principles  than  of 
men. 

Founded  on  the  Constitution,  it  enters  the  contest  with 
doctrines  and  principles  the  essence  of  truth,  and  which 
never  fail  to  commend  themselves  in  the  end  to  the  accept 
ance  and  appro.val  of  the  people. 


CHAPTEE    III. 

Helper's  Slanders  on  the  Non-Slaveholding  people  of  the  South  re 
futed — Better  chance  in  the  South  for  a  poor  man  than  in  the 
North — The  proofs— Names  of  prominent  Statesmen  of  the  South 
who  have  risen  from  poverty  to  the  highest  eminence— the  Ne 
gro  well  treated  in  the  South — Richly  repaid  for  his  Labor — Com 
parisons  between  the  poor  Whites  of  the  North  and  the  Negro  of 
the  South — The  Strike  of  the  poor  Whites  in  Massachusetts — 
They  admit  that  they  are  worse  off  than  the  Slaves  in  the  South. 

"  IN  the  South,  unfortunately,  no  kind  of  labor  is  either 
free  or  respectable.  Every  white  man  who  is  under  the 
necessity  of  earning  his  bread  by  the  sweat  of  his  brow, 
or  by  manual  labor  in  any  capacity,  no  matter  how  un 
assuming  in  deportment  or  exemplary  in  morals,  is  treated 
as  if  he  were  a  loathsome  beast,  and  shunned  with  disdain. 
His  soul  may  be  the  very  seat  of  honor  and  integrity; 
yet,  without  slaves, — himself  a  slave, — he  is  accounted  as 
nobody,  and  would  be  deemed  intolerably  presumptuous 
if  he  dared  to  open  his  mouth,  even  so  wide  as  to  give 
faint  utterance  to  a  three-lettered  monosyllable,  like  yea 
or  nay,  in  the  presence  of  an  august  knight  of  the  whip 
and  the  lash."— Page  23. 

There  probably  was  never  so  gross  a  compilation  of 
falsehoods  so  wantonly  forced  together  as  the  foregoing 
extract  embraces.  It  is  these  miserable  exaggerations 

(57) 


58  HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

and  misrepresentations  of  the  social  relations  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxons  of  the  South  which  canker  the  minds  and  feelings 
of  the  Northern  masses.  There  is  no  place  on  earth  where 
the  industrious,  enterprising,  and  upright  poor  man — no 
matter  what  his  calling — is  more  cordially  aided  and  abet 
ted  in  all  his  honorable  undertakings  than  in  the  South, 
or  slave-holding  States.  Why,  it  is  honestly — when  not 
suppressed  by  party  prejudices — a  Northern  proverb,  and 
a  standing  instruction  to  the  poor,  but  enterprising  young 
Northerner,  "  Go  you  to  the  sunny  South,  and  there, 
amongst  the  generous  and  warm-hearted  Southerners, 
work  your  way  to  fortune  and  fame."  The  liberal  aid 
which  has  been  so  frequently,  freely,  and  unsuspectingly 
extended  to  the  numberless  hordes  of  Northern  peda 
gogues,  tin  pedlers,  pill  vendors,  etc.,  and  which  has  often 
resulted  in  begetting  them  opulence  and  fame,  has  been 
most  ungratefully  received,  and  the  success  of  their  re 
cipients  attributed  to  the  superior  energy,  talents,  and  en 
terprise  of  the  Northerner  over  the  Southerner.  It  is 
most  lamentably  true  that  the  South  thus,  in  many  instan 
ces,  warms  in  its  genial  bosom  the  malignant  viper  that 
strikes  its  poisonous  sting  to  her  vitals.  The  demagogue 
or  the  villain  always  taxes  his  ingenuity  in  manufacturing 
that  species  of  specious  argument  which  he  thinks  best 
calculated  to  induce  those  whom  he  designs  to  operate 
upon  to  think,  feel,  and  act  as  he  does.  Such  is  the  base 
resort  of  the  abolitionist,  and  the  meaner  jealous  opponent 
of  African  slavery.  They  attempt  to  fire  the  feelings  of 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.          59 

the  laboring  class  by  appeals  to  their  pride  and  personal 
independence ;  ignoring  that  natural  sequence,  that  the 
ordinary  mutations  of  life  furnish  in  every  location  and 
latitude  of  this  free  country,  daily  evidences  of  the  rich 
man  becoming  poor,  and  the  poor  man  becoming  rich;  of 
the  humble  man  mounting  the  ladder  of  fame,  and  he  that 
was  up,  by  the  process  of  natural  law  passing  down. 
Fame  and  fortune,  intelligence  and  ignorance,  are  not 
governed  in  the  slightest  degree  by  the  institution  of  Af 
rican  slavery:  they  seem  to  be  the  handiwork  of  another 
and  superior  power ;  or,  if  controlled  solely  by  human 
agency,  can  be  accounted  Tor  on  quite  different  hypotheses. 
A  comparative  statement  would  show  quite  as  many  men  of 
wealth,  quite  as  many,  too,  going  up  and  down  the  scale  of 
fortune,  quite  as  many  enjoying  fame,  and  they,  too,  passing 
up  and  down  the  elevator  of  circumstances,  which  contribute 
to  put  men  in  and  out  of  power  and  place,  at  the  South  as 
there  are  at  the  North,  and  these  mutations  are  not  confined 
to  any  class  or  condition  in  life.  The  man  of  will  works 
out  his  own  position,  and  would  no  more,  though  poor,  stand 
the  lash  of  the  arrogant  Southerner,  than  he  would  the  lock 
and  key  of  the  manufacturing  nabob  of  the  North. 

The  Northern  tyrant,  as  he  lords  it  over  the  poor 
white  laborer,  tasks  him  to  the  utmost  of  his  physical 
capacity,  requiring  him  to  march  to  the  task  indicated  for 
him  with  the  precision  of  time ;  shrewdly  names  his  im 
perious  exactions  "DISCIPLINE  ;"  while  the  Southern 
disciplinarian  is  uncharitably  denounced  as  being  an  arro- 


60  HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

gant,  dogmatical,  exacting  "  knight  of  the  whip  and  the 
lash."  Those  invidious  misnomers  are  the  offspring  of 
malignant  minds,  seeking  to  stir  up  strife  and  discord, 
creating  imaginary  distinctions;  and,  by  the  envy  it  in 
spires,  produces  serious  breaches  in  otherwise  more  united 
communities. 

There  are  many  distinguished  instances  of  the  poor 
man,  the  mechanic,  men  of  various  vocations  in  life,  who 
"  earned  their  bread  by  the  sweat  of  their  brow"  at  the 
South,  who  have  acquired  wealth,  high  respectability,  and 
wide-spread  fame,  as  liberal  and  enlightened  statesmen. 
We  will  take  the  liberty  of  giving  the  names  of  some  of 
these  living  instances : — Honorables  Messrs.  Johnson, 
"  Jimmie  Jones,"  G.  W.  Jones,  and  Staunton  of  Tennes 
see,  Staunton  of  Kentucky,  Governors  Letcher  and 
McMullin  of  Virginia,  Orr  and  Ashmore  of  South  Caro 
lina,  Stephens,  and  Brown  Governor  of  Georgia.  The 
first  of  this  galaxy  of  great  and  talented  men  in  the 
South  who  have  risen  from  the  humble  to  the  higher 
walks  of  life,  and  who  is  as  much  respected  as  any  gentle 
man  in  our  land,  was  in  early  life  a  tailor  by  trade,  (his 
sign  still  hangs  over  his  old  shop  door  in  the  town  where 
he  lives,  in  Tennessee,)  and,  withal,  the  people  of  that 
Southern  State  respect  him  enough  to  honor  him  with  a 
seat  in  the  United  States  Senate.  "  Jimmie  Jones"  was  a 
blacksmith,  and  his  stalwart  blows  were  honored  with  high 
State  and  National  positions.  Geo.  "W.  Jones  is  a  saddler 
by  trade ;  the  Stauntons  are  bricklayers ;  Letcher  a  house 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.  61 

carpenter  ;  McMullen  was  a  wagoner ;  Stephens  was  physi 
cally  incapable  of  labor,  but  was  poor,  and  had  to  work  his 
way  to  position  as  best  he  could.  The  present  Governor 
of  Georgia  was  of  very  obscure  origin.  Orr  was  poor,  and 
Ashmore  was  unlearned  and  penniless,  until  by  the  dint 
of  his  own  labor  he  acquired  means  and  education.  The 
commanding  talents  and  honored  positions  of  the  gentle 
men  above  named  are  well  known  to  every  intelligent 
reader  in  the  United  States ;  and  they  are  native  South 
erners,  poor  boys,  laboring  men,  yet  honored  !  Is  this 
truth  or  fiction,  Mr.  Helper  ?  How  do  those  living  facts 
comport  with  your  malicious  slanders,  "  that  no  kind  of 
labor  is  either  free  or  respected  at  the  South"  ? 

The  traitor  is  generally  hired  to  perform  his  treason,' 
consequently  but  little  respect  is  ever  paid  to  his  acts, 
and  they  are  never  based  upon  sound  principle.  Helper's 
statistics  are  shown  to  be  false,  and  his  reasoning, — and 
that  also  of  his  entire  abolition  cohorts, — is  fallacious  ; 
they  first  assert  that  the  poor  man,  the  laboring  man,  the 
mechanic,  at  the  South,  is  not  respected,  is  not  allowed 
the  privilege  of  expressing  a  monosyllable  in  the  presence 
of  one  of  the  "knights  of  the  lash  and  the  whip."  Per 
contrary,  they  assert  that  slavery  begets  arrogance,  indo 
lence,  degeneracy,  and  want  of  enterprise  upon  the  part 
of  the  slaveholder,  and  he  consequently  loses  his  wealth 
and  self-respect,  and  that  the  enterprising  laboring  man 
soon  supplants  him.  Now,  the  truth  is,  these  assertions 
are  all  manufactured  for  hellish  purposes — to  array  class 
6 


62          HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

against  class  at  the  South,  and,  at  the  North,  to  excite  a 
false  and  uncalled  for  sympathy  for  the  laboring  whites  at 
the  South,  and  to  engender  hatred  towards  the  slave  own 
ers.  We  shall  never  degrade  the  white  man,  by  any  parity 
of  reasoning,  to  social  or  political  equality  with  the  negro, 
— but  there  are  practical  questions  which  involve  the 
means  of  temporal  existence  and  happiness,  where  we  think 
a  comparison  of  the  condition  of  the  races  may  be  intro 
duced  happily,  to  quiet  the  nervous  anxiety  of  many  about 
the  condition  of  the  poor  negro.  At  the  South,  the  negro 
is  richly  rewarded  for  his  labor,  by  being  most  abundantly 
provided  for  with  clothing,  food,  nursing  when  sick,  for  him 
self  and  family, — this,  too,  without  racking  care  and  cease- 
less  anxiety  ;  as  evidenced  by  the  poor  white  man,  whose 
daily  and  even  nightly  labors  frequently  are  inadequate 
to  secure  honestly  the  necessaries  of  life  for  himself  and 
family  ;  in  proof  of  which,  we  submit  the  acknowledgment 
of  the  Lynn  strikers. 

THE  STRIKE  AT  LYNN. 

From  the  Boston  Traveler,  Feb.  23. 

Most  of  the  company,  during  the  time  intervening  be 
tween  the  hour  at  which  they  began  to  assemble  and  that 
at  which  they  were  to  co-operate  in  a  demonstration,  di 
vided  up  in  little  knots,  and  engaged  in  conversation  with 
each  other,  instead  of  occupying  themselves  with  more  ir 
regular  proceedings.  Some  of  these  conversations  merged 
into  discussions,  and  oftentimes  became  quite  exciting,  at- 


63 

tracting  the  attention  of  such  outsiders  as  could  not  help 
overhearing  them. 

Among  the  crowd  I  noticed  two  intelligent  shoemakers, 
who  were  deep  in  argument,  pro  and  con,  on  a  question 
relating  to  the  merits'  of  the  case,  and  had  attracted  several 
hundred  people  to  hear  their  discussion. 

"  What  is  the  use,"  said  one  of  them,  who  seemed  to 
take  an  interest  in  politics,  "  of  our  making  such  a  fuss 
about  the  slaves  of  the  South  ?  I  tell  you,  we  are  almost 
as  much  oppressed  as  they  are.  In  fact,  in  one  sense  we 
are  worse  oppressed,  for  they  don't  work  so  many  hours 
in  a  week  as  we  do,  and  they  get  a  living,  while  most  of 
us  couldn't  live,  with  our  families,  if  we  couldn't  get  trust 
ed  for  necessaries  of  life,  which  we  never  expect  to  be  able 
to  pay  for  at  this  rate." 

His  opponent  seemed  to  hesitate,  and  a  bystander  put 
in,  "  We  are  worse  treated  than  the  slaves  of  the  South, 
in  every  sense,  so  far  as  I  can  see." 

"  Yes,"  said  the  first  speaker,  "I  don't  know  but  we 
are." 

The  second  party  to  the  controversy  now  spoke  up  with 
some  earnestness  : — "  You  know,  gentlemen,  we  are  not  a 
quarter  as  bad  off  as  the  slaves  of  the  South,  though  we 

are,  by  our  foolishness,  ten  times  as  bad  off  as  we 

ought  to  be.  They  can't  vote,  nor  complain,  and  we  can. 
And,  then,  just  think  of  it.  The  slaves  can't  hold  mass 
meetings,  nor  i  strike,'  and  we  hav'n't  lost  that  privilege 
yet,  thank  the  Lord  !"  (Loud  cheers.) 


64          HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

First  Speaker. — That's  so  ;  but  what'll  those  privileges 
amount  to,  if  they  come  to  nothing  ?  You  see,  gentlemen, 
the  only  superiority  of  our  condition  over  that  of  Southern 
slaves  is,  we  have  got  to  manufacture  ourselves  out  of  this 
strike.  (Cheers.)  Shall  we  fail,  or  shall  we  assert  our 
superiority  over  Southern  niggers  ?  (Prolonged  cheers — 
cries  of  "We'll  never  fail — We'll  starve  to  death  first."  ) 

Another  conversation  between  a  "  boss"  and  two  of  his 
employees,  among  the  strikers,  was  more  laconic  and  less 
respectful — 

Boss — "  Good  morning,  gentlemen." 

First  Jour. — "  Good  morning,  sir.  I  guess  you  begin 
to  think  we  are  in  earnest  ?" 

Second  Jour. — "  How  are  ye  ?  Wall,  don't  you  think 
the  bosses  '11  have  to  knock  under  (excitedly),  and  use  us 
decent?" 

Boss — "  Hav'n't  I  always  used  you  decent  ?" 

"First  Jour. — "  Do  you  think  $250  enough  for  a  man 
Tith  a  family  to  live  on  ?" 

Second  Jour. — "  No,  you  know  you  hav'n't  used  us  de 
cent,  and  we'll  show  you  how  to  do  it,  too !" 

Boss — "I  have  always  paid  all  I  could  afford  to." 

Second  Jour. — "  You  hav'n't." 

Bow— "I  have." 

Second  Jour. — "  You  lie,  and  you  know  it.' 

Boss — It's  no  use  trying  to  argue  with  a  fool !"   (Exit.) 

3«con(    T^sr.  (somewhat  maliciously) — "  We'll,  show  you 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.          65 

whose's  a  fool  and  who  ain't,  before  we  get  through  with 
it." 

Would  it  be  proper  or  right,  would  it  be  in  good  taste 
or  generous  sentiment,  for  the  people  of  the  South  to  ad 
vise  this  conflict  of  action  between  the  labor  and  capital 
of  the  North  ?  Would  it  be  philanthropic  or  Christian-like 
in  them  to  stimulate  the  white  employees  to  plunder  and 
murder  their  employers  ? 


CHAPTER    IV. 

The  Hypocrisy  ef  Helper — In  favor  of  Slavery  in  his  work  issued 
1855— Driven  from  the  South  for  stealing  three  hundred  dollars 
— Writes  "  Helper's  Impending  Crisis  of  the  South" — Helper 
denounces  free  negroes  in  his  "Land  of  Gold" — Valuable  statis 
tical  information  in  regard  to  the  power  and  wealth  of  the  South 
— Seaports  of  the  South — Shore  line  of  States  on  the  Atlantic 
Ocean  in  favor  of  the  South,  of  eighteen  thousand  miles  more 
than  the  North — The  power  of  the  South  to  establish  and  main 
tain  a  separate  and  independent  government  against  the  United 
North  combined — The  military  strength  of  the  South  estimated 
at  six  million  whites — Her  immense  resources  in  case  of  war. 

"  Two  hundred  and  thirty-nine  years  have  the  negroes 
in  America  been  held  in  inhuman  bondage.  During  the 
whole  of  this  long  period  they  have  toiled  unceasingly, 
from  the  gray  of  dawn  till  the  dusk  of  eve,  for  their 
cruel  taskmasters,  who  have  rewarded  them  with  scanty 
allowances  of  the  most  inferior  qualities  of  victuals  and 
clothes,  with  heartless  separations  of  the  tenderest  ties  of 
kindred,  with  epithets,  with  scoldings,  with  execrations, 
and  with  the  lash — and,  not  unfrequently,  with  the  fatal 
bludgeon  or  the  more  deadly  weapon."  (Page  87,  Comp.) 

It  is  very  strange  indeed,  that  after  the  lapse  of  only 
six  years,  Mr.  Helper's  mind  should  take  so  great  a 
change.  We  intend  to  show  that  Mr.  Helper,  when 
making  use  of  the  above  language,  contradicts  what  he 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.          67 

said  in  a  book  published  in  1855.  It  is  very  strange  that 
Mr.  Helper  would  make  use  of  the  following,  which  he 
published  in  a  book  entitled  "  The  Land  of  Gold,"  pub 
lished,  as  I  have  before  stated,  in  the  year  1855,  a.t 
Baltimore,  "  by  Henry  Taylor,  Sun  Iron  Building." 

On  pages  275-6-7-8-9,  about  the  middle  of  page  275, 
near  the  top  of  the  page,  the  writer  says  thus  : — "  There 
are  comparatively  few  negroes  in  this  new  State  (Cali 
fornia).  Most  of  those  who  are  found  here,  have  emigrated 
from  the  Northern  and  Eastern  States  in  the  capacity  of 
cooks  and  stewards  of  vessels.  They  are  in  the  same 
situation  as  their  brethren  in  New  York  and  Massachu 
setts,  slaves  to  no  single  individual,  but  to  the  entire  com 
munity.  Like  free  negroes  everywhere  else,  they  in 
habit  the  worst  parts  of  the  towns  in  California,  and  live 
commonly  in  characteristic  filth  and  degradation.  There 
are  a  few  blacks  from  the  South,  and  these  have  been 
brought  out  here  as  slaves.  It  is  true  that  on  their  arrival 
here,  they  have  the  power  of  claiming  their  freedom ;  but 
such  is  their  attachment  to  their  masters,  that  this  is  rarely 
done.  Instances  have  occurred  in  which  they  have  been 
enticed  away  by  meddling  abolitionists;  but,  disgusted 
with  a  freedom  which  was  of  no  value  to  them,  they  have 
been  eager  to  return  again  to  their  masters.  Several 
cases  of  this  kind  have  come  under  my  own  observation. 

"  I  was  personally  acquainted  with  a  New  Orleans  sea- 
captain  and  shipowner,  who  had  a  very  likely  negro  man 
named  Joe.  This  slave  had  acted  as  his  special  servant 


68 


for  many  years,  and  had  made  two  or  three  voyages  with 
him  between  Shanghai  and  San  Francisco.  His  conduct 
was  entirely  unobjectionable,  and  his  duties  were  always 
promptly  and  efficiently  discharged.  Indeed,  the  captain 
informed  me  that,  though  he  had  reared  Joe,  he  never  had 
occasion  to  whip  him  for  any  offense.  Others  had  ob 
served  the  admirable  traits  of  the  negro,  and  several 
persons  had  attempted  to  buy  him,  offering  extraordinary 
prices ;  but  his  master,  having  the  highest  appreciation  of 
his  qualities  and  a  strong  personal  attachment  for  him, 
positively  refused  to  part  with  him  on  any  terms.  At 
last,  however,  Joe  deserted  the  vessel.  An  abolitionist 
had  persuaded  him  to  leave  his  master ;  and  a  short  while 
thereafter  he  married  a  Mexican  woman — a  sort  of  half- 
breed — and  went  off  to  the  mines,  near  Campo  Seco.  But 
he  found  his  freedom  unprofitable  and  troublesome.  While 
in  his  legitimate  station  he  had  always  had  an  easy  time, 
plenty  of  food  and  an  abundance  of  clothing.  He  had 
also  accumulated  two  or  three  hundred  dollars,  which  had 
been  given  him  by  his  master  and  others  for  extra  ser 
vices.  Not  long  after  his  marriage  with  the  Mexican 
woman,  his  money  disappeared ;  he  became  penniless, 
ragged,  dejected,  and,  as  a  last  resort,  determined  to 
return  to  San  Fransisco,  beg  his  master's  pardon,  and,  if 
possible,  reinstate  himself  in  the  favor  of  one  who  had 
always  been  his  friend.  He  did  return,  presented  him 
self  as  a  suppliant  before  his  master,  told  him  that  he  had 
been  persuaded  to  leave,  that  he  was  sorry  for  having 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.  69 

done  so,  and  now  wished  to  enter  his  service  again,  pro 
mising  unwavering  faithfulness  in  the  future.  The  master 
regarded  him  with  a  steady  gaze  until  he  had  finished  his 
story,  and  then,  in  a  distinct  and  dispassionate  tone,  said 
to  him :  '  You  had  no  cause  for  leaving  me ;  I  had 
always  treated  you  well ;  now  you  may  go,  I  don't  want' 
you  any  longer.'  At  the  conclusion  of  these  words,  the 
negro  dropped  in  despair  at  his  master's  feet,  and  wept 
like  a  child.  Moved  by  the  sincerity  of  the  negro's 
repentance,  and  having  duly  considered  the  extenuating 
circumstances  of  the  case,  the  master  overlooked  his 
estrangement,  set  him  to  work  and  never  had  the  least 
difficulty  with  him  afterward.  Of  his  Dulcina,  whom  it 
seems  he  had  married  in  a  Laguna  dance-house,  I  know 
nothing,  except  the  information  I  gained  from  Joe  him 
self,  that  she  left  him  as  soon  as  his  money  was  gone. 

"  One  more  instance,  and  I  have  done  with  the  negroes. 
A  gentleman,  and  three  of  his  slaves,  from  the  western 
part  of  North  Carolina,  had  been  mining  about  two  years, 
near  Quartzburg,  in  Mariposa  County.  Their  efforts 
having  been  crowned  with  success,  the  master  concluded 
to  return  home,  and,  speaking  to  his  slaves  of  his  inten 
tion,  he  told  them  that  they  were  at  liberty  to  remain  in 
California,  where  their  freedom  would  not  be  disturbed, 
and  where  they  would  be  entitled  to  the  entire  proceeds 
of  their  labor.  To  this  they  replied  that  the  abolitionists 
had  told  them  that  long  before,  and,  after  detailing  several 
attempts  to  decoy  them  from  their  owner,  and  signifying 


70          HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

their  unwillingness  to  remain  in  California,  they  concluded 
by  requesting  their  master  to  take  them  with  him.  He 
consented,  paid  their  passage,  and  they  all  returno  '  'iome 
in  the  same  vessel. 

"The  applicability  of  slave  labor  to  the  soil  of  Southern 
California  is  now  becoming  a  theme  of  discussion  in  that 
region,  and  it  is  probable  that  the  experiment  will  one  day 
be  tried.  Indeed,  the  propriety  of  dividing  the  State  into 
Northern  and  Southern  California  has  already  occupied 
the  attention  of  the  legislature ;  and,  while  it  is  generally 
admitted  that  the  people  are  about  equally  divided  upon 
the  measure,  it  is  universally  conceded  that,  in  case  of  its 
adoption,  the  Southern  portion  will  establish  the  laws  and 
institutions  of  Virginia  and  Louisiana." 

The  writer  also  says,%on  page  221  of  the  same  book,  in 
relation  to  Nicaragua,  and  its  future,  as  follows : — 

"  Nicaragua  can  never  fulfill  its  destiny  until  it  intro 
duces  negro  slavery.  Nothing  but  slave  labor  can  ever 
subdue  its  forests  or  cultivate  its  untimbered  lands.  White 
men  may  live  upon  its  soil,  with  an  umbrella  in  one  hand 
and  a  fan  in  the  other ;  but  they  can  never  unfold  or  de 
velop  its  resources.  May  we  not  safely  conclude  that  negro 
slavery  will  be  introduced  into  this  country  before  the 
lapse  of  many  years  ?  We  think  so.  The  tendency  of 
events  fully  warrants  this  inference."  Page  221  Land 
of  Gold. 

"Oh,  Consistency,  thou  art  a  jewel!" 

The  question  has  often  been  asked,  What  are  the  capa- 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.          71 

bilities  of  the  South  ?  Upon  this  point  we  ask  to  be  heard 
with  attention.  We  have,  already,  an  immense  line  of 
railroad,  and  an  equally  extensive  line  of  steamboats  in 
successful  operation,  and  thousands  of  miles  more  pro 
jected.  We  have  capacious  ports  and  harbors  strung 
along  the  Atlantic  coast  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the 
Chesapeake  and  Delaware  Bays,  including  sounds  and 
rivers  to  head  of  tide,  amounting  to  23,803  miles,  and 
more  than  doubling  those  of  the  North,  of  which  Helper 
now  delights  to  boast !  Our  inland  water  communications 
are  unequalled.  Look  at  the  following  tables,  and  tell  us, 
does  the  South  lack  facilities  for  commercial  intercourse  ? 
And  any  person  who  has  witnessed  the  proceedings  of  the 
various  legislatures  of  the  Southern  States,  will  see  that 
they  have  passed  bills  for  their  improvement,  and  are  es 
tablishing  lines  of  steamboats  between  them  and  foreign 
ports. 

Tables  showing  the  shore  line  of  States  on  the.  Atlantic  coast  and  Gulf 
of  Mexico. 

cJ   -i  •  £  S  73  *?  ***          •*?  **>-r  "& 

8 1       2£»        II       ||«    ||i|^ 

NORTHERN  STATES.  1^1         §1      ^If 


£3       £-32         £2 

o  E         o  cs  oS 


Maine..  .  .    . 

Miles. 

.   .  427 

CO  " 

Miles. 
1  599 

ca£ 
Miles. 
427 

Miles. 
2  026 

Miles. 
2  453 

New  Hampshire 

13 

37 

24 

50 

74 

Massachusetts  

209 

865 

832 

1  074 

1  906 

Rhode  Island  

55 

153 

232 

208 

440 

14 

239 

1,074 

253 

1,327 

New  York  

114 

886 

1,057 

1,000 

2,057 

118 

732 

151 

820 

971 

Pennsylvania  ... 

106 

106 

Total  Northern,  Miles 9,334 


72 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 


SOUTHERN  STATES. 


JfiZes. 

Delaware 29  136 

Maryland • 44  1,008 

Virginia 148  735 

North  Carolina 299  1,549 

South  Carolina 192  356 

Georgia 76  410 

Florida 1,020  3,005 

Alabama 33  284 

Mississippi 42  206 

Louisiana 616  1,595 

Texas 353  1,284 


I! 

Miles. 
506 
3,401 
1,090 
932 
708 
468 
860 
313 
137 
936 
432 


Total  Southern,  Miles 23,803 

Number  of  harbors  in  the  different  States  on*the  coast,  and  the  principal  ones 
on  rivers  to  the  head  of  tide.     (Incomplete.) 

Number  of  harbors  (not 
STATES.     (NORTHERN.)  including  all  upon  rivers). 

Maine 52 

New  Hampshire 3 

Massachusetts 51 

Rhode  Island 7 

Connecticut 32 

New  York 27 

New  Jersey 14 

Pennsylvania 3 

Total 189 

Number  of  harbors  (not 
STATES.     (SOUTHERN.)  including  all  upon  rivers) 

Delaware , 3 

Maryland , 11 

Virginia 22 

North  Carolina 52 

South  Carolina 21 

Georgia 15 

Florida 66 

Alabama 4 

Mississippi „, 10 

Louisiana 33 

Texas ,.  12 


Total 249 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.          73 

The  table  of  harbors  is  incomplete,  but  the  full  table 
will  only  increase  the  nun^er  of  those  of  the  South,  and 
show  her  still  greater  relative  superiority.  With  railroads 
and  rivers  traversing  every  portion  of  her  territory, — with 
safe  and  ample  harbors  indenting  her  coasts,  and  with 
thousands  of  miles  of  her  shores  washed  by  the  ocean, 
what  does  the  South  lack  in  the  way  of  facilities  for  trans 
portation?  Nothing,  literally.  If,  then,  the  South  shall 
be  forced  to  establish  a  separate  and  independent  govern 
ment,  by  the  continual  aggressions  of  the  North,  would  her 
geographical  position  shut  her  out  from  intercourse  with 
the  world  ?  No !  verily,  she  is  throughout  her  whole  ex 
tent,  by  the  act  of  God,  in  contract  with  the  commercial 
world. 

Our  coal  and  iron,  copper,  lead,  zinc,  and  other  valuable 
minerals,  are  exliaustless ;  and  the  produce  of  an  empire 
can  now  most  readily  be  entered  at  any  port  in  the  South. 

But  with  us,  in  the  South,  "Cotton  is  King;"  and,  in 
the  language  of  Prof.  De  Bow,  "  It  is  the  cotton-bale  that 
makes  the  treaties  of  the  world,  and  binds  over  the  nations 
to  keep  the  peace." 

Behind  the  cotton-bale,  in  time  of  war,  our  armies  take 
shelter,  while  in  time  of  peace  our  cotton-bales  employ  the 
shipping  of  at  least  half  the  American  commerce,  feed  the 
looms  and  spindles  of  the  entire  North,  adding  to  all  the 
wealth  and  opulence  enjoyed  by  their  great  marts.  And 
while  we  enjoy  the  right  of  Harnatic  servitude  guarantied 
to  us  by  the  Constitution  of  our  country,  and  by  the  Di- 


74  HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

vine  laws  of  God,  with  our  superior  soil  and  genial  climate, 
no  competition  on  earth  will  1^  able  to  stand  before  us. 

And  these  rights  we  intend  to  enjoy,  or  to  a  man  we 
will  die,  strung  along  Mason  &  Dixon's  line,  with  our  faces 
looking  North.  /Leave  us  in  the  peaceable  possession  of 
our  slaves,  and  our  Northern  neighbors  may  have  all  the 
paupers  and  convicts  that  pour  in  upon  us  from  European 
prisons,  the  getters  up  of  "  hunger  meetings"  at  the  North, 
and  the  propagators  of  the  most  irreligious  and  impious 
"isms"  of  the  day.  The  productive  wealth  of  the  South, 

^^^"^  *• 

her  agricultural  and  mineral  resources,  her  population  and 
extent  of  territory,  are  greatly  underrated  by  the  politi 
cians  of  the  North,  and  the  reckless  agitators  of  the  slavery 
question,  such  as  Seward,  Chase,  Giddings  &  Co.  There 
are  nine  hundred  and  twenty-nine  thousand  square  miles 
in  the  South, — an  area  as  large  as  that  covered  by  Great 
Britain,  France,  Austria,  Prussia,  and  Spain.  The  North, 
even  after  the  admission  of  the  two  large  territories  of 
Kansas  and  Minnesota,  will  fall  more  than  one  hundred 
thousand  square  miles  short  of  the  South.  This  does 
not  include  the  territory  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
which  will  never  come  in  antagonism  with  the  South. 
There  are  12,000,000  of  inhabitants  in  the  slaveholding 
States  of  this  Union,  and  of  this  number  4,000,000  are 
slaves ;  and  their  aggregate  value,  at  present  prices,  will 
amount  to  $170,000,000.  This  item  of  Southern  wealth 
Helper  left  out  of  his  calculations,  or  willfully  lied.  This 
gives  us  an  aggregate  population  larger  than  that  of  Great 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.  75 

Britain  when  she  struggled  against  Napoleon  and  the  com 
bined  armies  of  Europe. 

The  population  of  the  slaveholding  States  of  this  Con 
federacy  is  five  times  that  of  the  united  Continental  Colo 
nies.  It  is  three  times  that  of  Sweden  and  Norway,  and 
greater  than  that  of  Belgium,  Portugal,  Holland,  Den 
mark,  Switzerland,  and  Greece  combined.  We  have  a 
population  five  times  as  large  as  that  which  conquered  our 
independence,  and  a  thousand-fold  as  strong.  We  have 
1,000,000  of  men  upon  our  muster-rolls.  At  any  time, 
upon  short  notice,  the  South  can  raise,  equip,  and  maintain 
in  the  field,  a  larger  force  than  any  power  on  earth  can 
send  against  her :  men,  too,  brought  up  on  horseback  and 
in  active  life,  with  guns  in  their  hands, — men  who  will  not 
desert  their  colors,  as  some  of  the  Northern  men  have  done 
in  Mexico  and  elsewhere  ! 

NOTE. — Helper  stole  three  hundred  dollars  from  his  employer,  a 
bookseller  at  Raleigh,  North  Carolina,  and  fled  from  the  South. 


CHAPTER    V. 

Helper's  ignorance  of  the  feelings  of  the  non-slaveholding  popula 
tion  of  the  South  to  their  country — The  negroes  of  the  South 
true  to  their  masters — The  proofs  given  at  Harper's  Ferry — Not 
a  slave  attempted  to  run  away — The  South  have  no  fears  of  the 
uprising  of  the  negroes — How  the  negroes  aided  their  masters 
to  repel  the  British  under  Lord  Cornwallis,  and  at  New  Orleans — 
Report  of  the  Virginia  Legislature  on  the  Harper's  Ferry  outrage. 

"  HENCEFORTH,  sirs,  we  are  demandants,  not  suppliants. 
We  demand  our  rights,  nothing  more,  nothing  less.  It  is 
for  you  to  decide  whether  we  are  to  have  justice  peaceably 
or  by  violence,  for  whatever  consequences  may  follow,  we 
are  determined  to  have  it  one  way  or  the  other.  Do  you 
aspire  to  become  the  victims  of  white  wow-slaveholding  ven 
geance  by  day,  and  of  barbarous  massacre  by  the  negroes 
at  night  ?  Would  you  be  instrumental  in  bringing  upon 
yourselves,  your  wives,  and  your  children,  a  fate  too 
horrible  to  contemplate  ?  Shall  history  cease  to  cite  as 
an  instance  of  unexampled  cruelty,  the  massacre  of  St. 
Bartholomew,  because  the  world — the  South — shall  have 
furnished  a  more  direful  scene  of  atrocity  and  carnage  ?" 
— Helper  s  Book,  page  128. 

Such  are  the  incendiary  words  put  forth  by  this  miser 
able  scamp — Helper  —  and  endorsed  by  sixty-eight  mem- 
(76) 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.          77 

bers  of  Congress.  We  think  that  Mr.  Helper  must  have 
intended  to  put  a  part  of  the  above  in  another  work  he 
was  writing  in  defense  of  the  South,  and  advocating  slave 
extension  as  he  did  in  his  "Land  of  Gold;"*  but  who 
being  detected  in  stealing,  was  cut  short  in  writing  it  by 
having  to  leave  the  State  or  go  to  prison.  Mr.  Helper 
professes  to  be  a  native  of  the  South;  but  we  are  of 
opinion  that  Southern  soil  never  gave  birth  to  so  great  a 
liar  and  rascal.  And  yet  he  says  (pretending  to  have  a 
great  deal  of  knowledge  of  the  South)  that  we  will 
"  become  the  victims  of  white  wow-slaveholding  vengeance 
by  day,  and  of  barbarous  massacre  by  the  negroes  at 
night."  On  page  148  of  his  work,  Helper  fixes  the 
number  of  slaveholders  at  186,551,  and  the  non-slave 
holders  at  824  603,  leaving  a  majority  in  favor  of  the 
non-slaveholders,  thus  giving  them  the  power  to  control 
us.  In  their  hands  lie  the  perpetuity  of  slavery,  and  if 
the  non-slaveholders  at  the  South  were  to  close  their 
hands  on  us,  the  institution  of  slavery  would  be  eternally 
crushed  out.  But  we  have  never  heard  that  portion  of 
our  community  complain  of  the  institution  of  slavery  as  a 
curse,  never  have  they  complained  of  the  loss  of  a  single 
right:  but,  on  the  contrary,  they  are  the  warmest  sup 
porters  that  the  institution  of  slavery  has. 

We    can   assure   Mr.  Helper   and    his    followers   (the 
"  Black"  Republicans)  that  we  have  no  fear  for  our  safety 

*  Mr.  Helper  wrote   a  work   in    1855,  entitled,    "The   Land  of 
Gold,"  that  advocated  the  extension  of  slavery. 


78  HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

from  the  so-called  "  vengeance  of  the  non-slaveholders  by 
day,  and  of  barbarous  massacre  by  the  negroes  at  night." 
We  have  no  such  fears.  But  we  are  of  opinion  that  this 
man  Helper  has  very  much  overrated  himself  and  laid  the 
above  (as  we  believe  Le  thinks)  "flattering  unction  to  his 
soul,"  which  will  never  be  fulfilled,  for  "John  Brown" 
attempted  to  carry  out  a  part  of  the  platform  as  laid 
down  in  the  book  of  this  traitor,  thief,  and  liar,  viz.  : 
"What  our  noble  sires  of  the  Revolution  left  unfinished, 
it  is  our  duty  to  complete,"  page  95.  "  John  Brown" 
labored  under  the  same  blind  and  fatal  belief  that  the 
non-slaveholding  whites  and  the  free  negroes,  together 
with  the  slaves,  would  rise  on  a  moment's  warning,  and 
murder,  rob,  and  burn  all  in  the  name  of  Freedom. 

But  alas !  this  poor,  miserable,  deluded  wretch  was 
doomed  to  meet  a  sad  end.  He  found  that  the  non- 
slaveholders  and  the  free  negroes,  together  with  the 
slaves,  would  not  rise  in  rebellion,  and  murder  their 
masters.  But  John  Brown,  when  he  found  this  out  it 
was  too  late  to  make  amends,  fought  the  harder  to  effect 
his  escape ;  but  failed,  was  tried,  found  guilty  after 
a  full  and  fair  trial,  and  hung  together  with  his  confeder 
ates. 

For  the  history  of  the  manner  in  which  the  slave  popu 
lation  behaved  during  the  excitement  at  Harper's  Ferry 
at  a  time,  if  they  chose,  they  could  have  obtained  their 
freedom,  we  would  refer  the  reader  to  the  following 
extracts  from  the  "  Report  of  the  Joint  Committee  of  the 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.  79 

General  Assembly  of  Virginia  on  the  Harper's  Ferry 
Outrage,  January  26th,  1860,  Doc.  No.  XXXI.,  which 
also  contains  some  useful  as  well  as  valuable  information 
on  the  slavery  question,  and  we  offer  it  without  comment. 
It  speaks  for  itself : — 

"During  the  first  night  of  the  attack,  and  before  the 
citizens  of  'the  town  were  apprized  of  the  danger,  a  band 
of  the  conspirators,  among  whom  were  Cook  and  Hazlitt, 
were  sent  to  the  rendezvous  in  Maryland,  with  wagons  and 
teams,  and  several  slaves  whom  they  had  pressed  into  ser 
vice,  to  bring  off  the  rifles,  pistols,  and  pikes  which  had 
been  collected  at  that  point.  But  when  they  received  in 
formation  of  the.  condition  of  their  confederates  at  Harper's 
Ferry,  they  abandoned  their  purpose  and  fled  to  the  moun 
tains,  and  made  their  escape.  The  slaves  availe'd  them 
selves  of  the  first  opportunity  to  return  to  their  masters, 
and  a  body  of  troops,  sent  for  that  purpose,  visited  the 
rendezvous  and  brought  off  the  wagons  and  arms. 

"  But,  in  the  opinion  of  your  committee,  this  is  but  » 
single  and  comparatively  unimportant  chapter  in  the  his 
tory  of  this  outrage.  They  would  cheerfully  have  under 
taken  the  task  of  investigating  the  subject,  in  all  its  rela 
tions  and  ramifications,  if  they  had  possessed  the  power  to 
compel  the  attendance  of  witnesses  who  reside  beyond  the 
limits  of  the  Commonwealth;  but  having  no  such  power, 
they  are  constrained  to  leave  that  branch  of  the  investiga 
tion  in  the  hands  of  the  committee  of  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States.  Your  committee  have  no  hesitation,  how- 


80          HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

ever,  in  expressing  the  opinion,  from  the  evidence  before 
them,  that  many  others  besides  the  parties  directly  engaged 
in  the  raid  at  Harper's  Ferry,  are  deeply  implicated,  as 
aiders  and  abettors,  and  accessories  before  the  fact,  with 
full  knowledge  of  the  guilty  purposes  of  their  confederates. 
Some  of  these,  like  Gerrit  Smith  of  New  York,  Dr.  S.  G. 

Howe  of  Boston, Sanborn,  and  Thaddeus  Hyatt  of 

New  York,  and  probably  others,  are  represented  to  have 
held  respectable  positions  in  society;  but  whatever  may 
have  been  their  social  standing  heretofore,  they  must 
henceforth,  in  the  esteem  of  all  good  men,  be  branded  as 
the  guilty  confederates  of  thieves,  murderers  and  traitors. 

"  The  evidence  before  your  committee  is  sufficient  to 
show  the  existence,  in  a  number  of  Northern  States,  of  a 
wide-spread  conspiracy,  not  merely  against  Virginia,  but 
against  the  peace  and  security  of  all  the  Southern  States. 
But  the  careful  erasure  of  names  and  dates  from  many  of 
the  papers  found  in  Brown's  possession,  renders  it  difficult 
"to  procure  legal  evidence  of  the  gViilt  of  the  parties  im 
plicated.  The  conviction  of  the  existence  of  such  a  con 
spiracy  is  deepened  by  the  sympathy  with  the  culprits 
which  has  been  manifested  by  large  numbers  of  persons  in 
the  Northern  States,  and  by  the  disposition  which  your 
committee  are  satisfied  did  exist,  to  rescue  them  from  the 
custody  of  the  law. 

"  Near  five  hundred  letters,  addressed  to  Governor  Wise, 
after  the  arrest  of  Brown  and  his  confederates,  have  been 
inspected  by  your  committee.  Many  of  these  were  anony- 


81 

mous,  and  evidently  written  in  bad  faith ;  but  the  greater 
number  were  genuine  letters,  apparently  from  respectable 
sources.  In  some  instances,  the  authors  professed  to  state 
from  their  own  knowledge ;  and  in  others,  from  informa 
tion  which  they  credited,  that  there  were  organizations  on 
foot,  in  various  States  and  neighborhoods,  to  effect  the 
rescue  of  Brown  and  his  associates ;  and  they  therefore 
urged  the  Governor  to  concentrate  a  sufficient  military 
force  about  Charlestown  (the  county  seat  of  Jefferson)  to 
frustrate  all  such  purposes.  Several  ministers  of  the  gos 
pel,  and  other  citizens,  who  valued  the  peace  and  harmony 
of  the  country,  appealed  to  Governor  Wise,  as  a  measure 
of  humanity,  and  to  save  the  effusion  of  blood,  to  assemble 
such  a  body  of  troops  around  the  prison  as  would  intimi 
date  the  sympathizers  from  attempting  a  rescue.  They 
justly  foresaw  that  even  an  abortive  attempt,  attended 
with  loss  of  life,  would,  in  all  probability,  be  followed  by 
disastrous  consequences  to  the  peace  of  the  country. 

"  Pending  the  trials,  and  after  the  conviction  of  the  pri 
soners,  a  great  many  letters  were  received  by  the  Gover 
nor  from  citizens  of  Northern  States,  urging  him  to  pardon 
the  offenders,  or  to  commute  their  punishment.  Some  of 
them  were  written  in  a  spirit  of  menace,  threatening  his 
life,  and  that  of  members  of  his  family,  if  he  should  fail 
to  comply  with  their  demands.  Others  gave  notice  of  the 
purpose  of  resolute  bands  of  desperadoes  to  fire  the  prin 
cipal  towns  and  cities  of  Virginia,  and  thus  obtain  revenge 
by  destroying  the  property  and  lives  of  our  citizens. 


82          HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

Others  appealed  to  his  clemency,  to  his  magnanimity,  and 
to  his  hopes  of  future  political  promotion,  as  presenting 
motives  for  his  intervention  in  hehalf  of  the  convicted 
felons.  Another  class  (and  among  these  were  letters  from 
men  of  national  reputation)  besought  him  to  pardon  them 
on  the  ground  of  public  policy.  The  writers  professed  to 
be  thoroughly  informed  as  to  the  condition  of  public  senti 
ment  in  the  North,  and  represented  it  as  so  favorable  to 
the  pardon  or  commutation  of  punishment  of  the  prison 
ers,  as  to  render  it  highly  expedient,  if  not  necessary,  to 
interpose  the  Executive  prerogative  of  mercy,  to  conciliate 
this  morbid  popular  opinion  in  the  North. 

"  This  invasion  of  a  sovereign  State  by  citizens  of  other 
States,  confederated  with  subjects  of  a  foreign  govern 
ment,  presents  matter  for  grave  consideration.  It  is  an 
event  without  a  parallel  in  the  history  of  our  country. 
And  when  we  remember  that  the  incursion  was  marked  by 
distinct  geographical  features — that  it  was  made  by  citi 
zens  of  Northern  States  on  a  Southern  State — that  all  the 
countenance  and  encouragement  which  it  received,  and  all 
the  material  aid  which  was  extended  to  it,  were  by  citizens 
of  Northern  States,  and  that  its  avowed  object  was  to 
make  war  upon  and  overthrow  an  institution  intimately 
interwoven  with  all  the  interests  of  the  Southern  States, 
and  constituting  an  essential  element  of  their  social  and 
political  systems — an  institution  which  has  existed  in  Vir 
ginia  for  more  than  two  centuries,  and  which  is  recognized 
and  guaranteed  by  the  mutual  covenants  between  the 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING-  CRISIS  DISSECTED.  t       83 

North  and  the  South,  embodied  in  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States — every  thoughtful  mind  must  be  filled  with 
deep  concern  and  anxiety  for  the  future  peace  and  secu 
rity  of  the  country. 

"  The  subject  of  slavery  has,  from  time  to  time,  consti 
tuted  a  disturbing  element  in  our  political  system,  from 
the  foundation  of  our  confederated  republic.  At  the  date 
of  the  declaration  of  our  national  independence,  slavery 
existed  in  every  colony  of  the  confederation.  It  had  been 
introduced  by  the  mother  country,  against  the  wishes  and 
remonstrances  of  the  colonies.  It  is  true  that  in  the  more 
Northern  members  of  the  confederation  the  number  of 
slaves  was  small ;  but  the  institution  was  recognized  and 
protected  by  the  laws  of  all  the  colonies.  If,  then,  there 
be  any  thing  in  the  institution  of  slavery  at  war  with  the 
laws  of  God  or  the  rights  of  humanity,  (which  we  deny,) 
the  sin  attaches  to  Great  Britain  as  its  founder,  and  to  all 
the  original  thirteen  States  of  the  confederacy,  as  having 
given  to  it  their  sanction  and  support. 

"  Shortly  after  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  the 
Northern  States  adopted  prospective  measures  to  relieve 
themselves  of  the  African  population.  But  it  is  a  great 
mistake  to  suppose  that  their  policy,  in  this  particular,  was 
prompted  by  any  spirit  of  philanthropy  or  tender  regard 
4  for  the  welfare  of  the  negro  race.  On  the  contrary,  it 
was  dictated  by  an  enlightened  self-interest,  yielding  obe 
dience  to  overruling  laws  of  social  economy.  Experience 
had  shown  that  the  African  race  were  not  adapted  to  high 


84          HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

Northern  latitudes,  and  that  slave  labor  could  not  compete 
successfully  with  free  white  labor  in  those  pursuits  to  which 
the  industry  of  the  North  was  directed.  This  discovery 
having  been  made,  the  people  of  the  North,  at  an  early 
day,  began  to  dispose  of  their  slaves  by  sale  to  citizens  of 
the  Southern  States,  whose  soil,  climate,  and  productions 
were  better  adapted  to  their  habits  and  capacities ;  and  the 
legislation  of  the  Northern  States,  following  the  course  of 
public  opinion,  was  directed  not  to  emancipation,  but  to 
the  removal  of  the  slave  population  beyond  their  limits. 
To  effect  this  object,  they  adopted  a  system  of  laws  which 
provided,  prospectively,  that  .all  children  born  of  female 
slaves,  within  their  jurisdiction,  after  certain  specified 
dates,  should  be  held  free  when  they  attained  a  given  age. 
No  law  can  be  found  on  the  statute  book  of  any  Northern 
State,  which  conferred  the  boon  of  freedom  on  a  single 
slave  in  being.  All  who  were  slaves  remained  slaves. 
Freedom  was  secured  only  to  the  children  of  slaves,  born 
after  the  days  designated  in  the  laws ;  and  it  was  secured 
ti.  them  only  in  the  contingency  that  the  owner  of  the 
female  slave  should  retain  her  within  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  State  until  after  the  child  was  born.  To  secure  free 
dom  to  the  afterborn  child,  therefore,  it  was  necessary 
that  the  consent  of  the  master,  indicated  by  his  permitting 
the  mother  to  remain  in  the  State,  should  be  superadded 
to  the  provisions  of  the  law.  Without  such  consent  the 
law  would  have  been  inoperative,  because  the  mother,  be 
fore  the  birth  of  the  child,  might,  at  the  will  of  the  master, 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED  85 

be  removed  beyond  the  jurisdiction  of  the  law.  There  was 
no  legal  prohibition  of  such  removal,  for  such  a  prohibition 
would  have  been  at  war  with  the  policy  of  the  law,  which 
was  obviously  removal  and  not  emancipation.  The  effect 
of  this  legislation  was,  as  might  have  readily  been  fore 
seen,  to  induce  the  owners  of  female  slaves  to  sell  them  to 
the  planters  of  the  South  before  the  time  arrived  when  the 
forfeiture  of  the  offspring  would  accrue.  By  these  laws  a 
wholesale  slave  trade  was  inaugurated,  under  which  a  large 
proportion  of  the  slaves  of  the  Northern  States  were  sold 
to  persons  residing  south  of  Pennsylvania ;  and  it  is  an 
unquestionable  fact,  that  a  large  number  of  the  slaves  of 
the  Southern  States  are  the  descendants  of  those  sold  by 
Northern  men  to  citizens  of  the  South,  with  covenants  of 
general  warranty  of  title  to  them  and  their  increase. 

"As  early  as  1778,  Virginia,  foreseeing  the  influx  of 
slaves  from  the  North,  under  the  operation  of  natural 
causes  and  of  anticipated  legislation,  sought  to  guard  her 
self  against  its  effects  by  stringent  prohibitory  enactments. 
"With  this  view,  in  that  year,  she  passed  a  law  forbidding 
the  importation  of  slaves  into  Virginia  by  land  or  sea, 
under  penalty  of  .£1,000  for  each  slave  so  imported,  and 
the  forfeiture  of  the  right  to  the  slave.  The  only  excep 
tions  made  by  the  law,  were  in  favor  of  bona  fide  immi 
grants  bringing  their  slaves  with  them,  and  persons  ac 
quiring  title  to  slaves  in  other  States  by  descent,  devise, 
or  marriage.  See  9  Hen.  Stat.  471-2.  This  law  remained 


86          HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

in  force  until  the   revisal  of  1819,  when  it  was  dropped 
from  the  Code  as  unnecessary. 

"  In  the  more  Northern  States,  slavery  ceased  to  exist 
shortly  after  the  Revolution.  As  early  as  1774,  it  was 
provided  by  law  in  Rhode  Island  that  all  the  offspring  of 
female  slaves  born  after  1784  should  be  free.  Under  the 
influence  of  natural  causes,  it  also  became  practically  ex 
tinct,  about  the  date  of  the  Revolution,  in  Vermont,  New 
Hampshire,  and  Massachusetts.  A  few  slaves,  however, 
lingered  in  those  States  until  after  the  adoption  of  their 
respective  constitutions,  when,  under  the  operation  of 
their  declarations  of  rights,  those  who  thought  proper  to 
assert  a  claim  to  freedom  obtained  it.  The  judicial  deci 
sion  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Massachusetts,  by  which  sla 
very  in  that  State  became  extinct,  was  pronounced  in  the 
case  of  Littleton  v.  Tuttle,  in  1796.  Chief  Justice  Par- 
sons,  in  delivering  the  opinion  of  the  Court  in  Winchedon 
v.  Hatfield,  4  Mass.  R.  127,  says,  *  Slavery  was  introduced 
into  this  country  soon  after  its  first  settlement,  and  was 
tolerated  until  the  ratification  of  the  present  Constitution, 
(2d  March,  1780.)  The  slave  was  the  property  of  his 
master,  subject  to  his  orders,  to  reasonable  correction  for 
misbehavior,  was  transferable  like  a  chattel  by  gift  or 
sale,  and  was  assets  in  the  hands  of  his  executor  or  ad 
ministrator.  If  the  master  was  guilty  of  a  cruel  or  un 
reasonable  castigation  of  his  slave,  he  was  liable  to  be 
punished  for  a  breach  of  the  peace,  and  I  believe  the 
slave  was  allowed  to  demand  sureties  of  the  peace  from  a 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.  87 

violent  and  barbarous  master, — which  generally  caused 
a  sale  to  another  master.  And  the  issue  of  the  female 
slave,  according  to  the  maxim  of  the  civil  law,  was  the 
property  of  her  master.  Under  these  regulations,  the 
treatment  of  slaves  was  in  general  mild  and  humane,  and 
they  suffered  hardships  not  greater  than  hired  servants.'  ' 

Notwithstanding  the  Massachusetts  Declaration  of 
Rights  in  1780,  slavery  seems  to  have  continued  for  some 
years  in  that  State.  The  following  brief  report  of  the 
case  of  Littleton  v.  Tuttle  is  appended  to  Judge  Parsons' 
opinion  in  the  case  of  Winchedon  v.  Hatfield : — 

4<  4  This  was  an  action  of  assumpsit  for  money  expended 
by  the  plaintiffs  for  the  support  and  maintenance  of  Jacob, 
alias  Cato,  a  negro  and  a  pauper.  Upon  the  general  issue 
pleaded,  the  following  facts  were  proved  to  the  jury  :  Cato's 
father,  named  Scipio,  was  reputed  a  negro  slave  when  Cato 
was  born,  and,  according  to  the  then  general  usage  and 
opinion,  was  the  property  of  Nathan  Chase,  an  inhabitant 
of  Littleton.  Cato's  mother,  named  Violet,  was  a  negro 
in  the  same  reputed  condition,  and  the  property  of  Joseph 
Harwood.  Scipio  and  Violet  were  lawfully  married  and 
had  issue,  Cato,  who  was  born  in  Littleton,  January  18th, 
1773,  and  was  there,  in  the  general  opinion,  a  slave,  the 
property  of  the  said  Harwood,  as  the  owner  of  his  mother. 
Harwood,  on  the  17th  February,  1779,  sold  him  to  the 
defendant  (Tuttle),  who  retained  him  in  his  service  until 
he  was  21  years  old.  He  being  then  a  cripple  and  unable 
to  labor,  the  defendant  delivered  him  to  the  overseers  of 


88          HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

the  poor  of  Littleton,  and  left  him  with  them,  refusing  to 
make  any  provision  for  him  ;  whereupon  the  overseers 
expended  the  money  in  his  maintenance  for  which  this 
action  was  brought. 

" '  The  court  stopped  the  defendant's  counsel  from  re 
plying,  and  the  chief  justice  charged  the  jury,  as  the 
unanimous  opinion  of  the  court,  that  Cato,  being  born  in 
this  country,  was  born  free,  and  that  the  defendant  was 
not  chargeable  for  his  support  after  he  was  21  years  of 
age.' 

"  It  thus  appears  that  slavery  ceased  to  exist  in  Massa 
chusetts,  not  by  legislative  action,  but  by  the  operation 
of  a  judicial  decision  rendered  in  1796,  by  which  a  con 
struction  was  placed  on  certain  provisions  of  her  Declara 
tion  of  Eights,  which  is  very  different  from  the  interpreta 
tion  which  similar  provisions  have  received  in  other  parts 
of  the  confederacy.  The  clause  referred  to  is  in  these 
words :  '  All  men  are  born  free  and  equal,  and  have  cer 
tain  natural,  essential  and  unalienable  rights ;  among 
which  may  be  reckoned  the  right  of  enjoying  and  defend 
ing  their  lives  and  liberties ;  and  that  of  acquiring,  pos 
sessing  and  protecting  property ;  in  fine,  that  of  seeking 
and  obtaining  their  safety  and  happiness.'  It  is  obvious, 
also,  that  this  provision  of  the  Declaration  of  Rights  could 
not  have  been  regarded  as  necessarily  conferring  the  right 
to  freedom  on  the  slave  population  ;  for  if  such  had  been 
the  opinion  generally  entertained,  it  would  not  have  re 
mained  inoperative  for  sixteen  years. 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.          89 

"  Pennsylvania  passed  her  first  act  for  the  removal  of 
slavery  1st  March,  1780 — New  Jersey  in  1784 — Connecti 
cut  in  1784,  and  New  York  in  1788 ;  but  these  laws  were 
very  gradual  in  their  operation,  for  the  Census  tables  dis 
close  the  fact  that  in  1790  there  were  158  slaves  in  New 
Hampshire  and  17  in  Vermont,  and  much  larger  numbers 
in  the  other  States.  As  late  as  1830  there  were  slaves  in 
every  New  England  State  except  Vermont. 

"  It  thus  appears  that  each  State  has  claimed  and  exer 
cised  the  right  to  regulate  its  own  domestic  institutions, 
according  to  its  own  pleasure,  without  let  or  hindrance 
from  the  other  States. 

"  At  the  time  the  federal  Constitution  was  adopted,  the 
whole  number  of  slaves,  in  all  the  States  north  of  Dela 
ware,  was  40,370,  of  whom  three-fourths  were  found  in 
New  York  and  New  Jersey,  and  it  was  well  known  to  every 
one,  that  in  a  few  years  the  institution  would  cease  to  ex 
ist  in  all  the  Northern  States. 

"  At  this  date,  the  African  slave  trade  existed  in  full 
vigor,  and  the  importation  of  slaves  into  some  of  the  States 
was  tolerated,  whilst  in  others  it  was  strictly  prohibited 
under  heavy  penalties. 

"When,  in  pursuance  of  the  invitation  given  by  Vir 
ginia  to  her  sister  States,  to  send  delegates  to  a  conven 
tion,  to  form  a  more  perfect  Union,  that  body  assembled, 
these  diversities  in  the  institutions  and  interests  of  the 
Northern  and  Southern  States,  which  it  was  foreseen  would 
tend  progressively  to  increase,  naturally  attracted  atten- 
8* 


90          HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

tion,  and  were  the  subject  of  grave  and  anxious  delibera 
tion. 

The  first  form  in  which  the  slavery  question  presented 
itself  to  the  framers  of  the  Constitution,  was  in  regard 
to  the  relation  of  the  slave  population  to  taxation  and 
representation.  This  question  was  adjusted  without 
much  debate,  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  parties,  in  con 
formity  with  the  rule  previously  established  in  the 
Continental  Congress,  by  a  compromise,  which  stipu 
lated  that  three-fifths  of  the  slave-population  should 
be  counted  in  establishing  the  ratio  of  representation,  and 
in  the  imposition  of  direct  taxes.  The  vote  by  States  on 
this  proposition  stood :  Ayes — Massachusetts,  Connecti 
cut,  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  Virginia,  North 
Carolina,  South  Carolina  and  Georgia — 9.  Nays — New 
Jersey  and  Delaware — 2.  Elliott's  Debates,  vol.  1,  p.  203. 

"  The  next  aspect  in  which  the  subject  arose  was  in  re 
gard  to  the  suppression  of  the  African  slave  trade ;  and 
here  again  the  subject  of  difference  was  settled  in  a  wise 
spirit  of  conciliation  and  mutual  concession. 

"  The  proposition  originally  reported  to  the  convention 
was  in  these  words  :  c  The  migration  or  importation  of  such 
persons  as  the  several  States  now  existing  shall  think  pro 
per  to  admit,  shall  not  be  prohibited  by  the  Legislature 
prior  to  the  year  1800,  but  a  tax  or  duty  may  be  imposed 
on  such  migration  or  importation  at  a  rate  not  exceeding 
the  average  of  the  duties  levied  on  imports.'  Elliott's 
Debates,  vol.  1,  p.  292.  On  the  25th  of  August,  1787,  it 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.  91 

was  moved  to  amend  the  report,  by  striking  out  the  words 
'  the  year  eighteen  hundred,'  and  inserting  the  words,  <  the 
year  eighteen  hundred  and  eight,'  which  passed  in  tho 
affirmative  :  Yeas — New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  Con 
necticut,  Maryland,  North  Carolina,  South  Carolina  and 
Georgia — 7.  Nays — New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Dela 
ware  and  Virginia — 4.  Rhode  Island  and  New  York  did 
not  vote  on  the  question.  Thus  it  appears  that  New 
Hampshire,  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  voted  to  pro 
long  the  period  during  which  the  slave  trade  should  be 
allowed. 

"  On  the  question  to  agree  to  the  first  part  of  the  report 
us  amended,  viz:  'The  migration  or  importation  of  such 
persons  as  the  several  States  now  existing  shall  think  pro 
per  to  admit,  shall  not  be  prohibited  by  the  Legislature 
prior  to  the  year  1808,'  it  passed  in  the  affirmative :  Yeas 
— New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  Maryland, 
North  Carolina,  South  Carolina  and  Georgia — 7.  Nays — 
New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware  and  Virginia — 4. 
Elliott's  Debates,  vol.  1,  pp.  295-6. 

"  The  course  of  Virginia  on  this  subject,  it  is  well  known, 
was  dictated  by  no  friendly  feeling  to  the  African  slave 
trade.  She  had  prohibited  it  by  her  own  laws  as  early  as 
1778,  and  George  Mason,  one  of  her  delegates  to  the  fed 
eral  convention,  refused  to  give  his  sanction  to  the  Consti 
tution,  among  other  reasons,  because  it  failed  to  place  an 
immediate  interdict  on  the  African  trade. 

"  The  third  and  last  form  in  which  the  subject  of  slavery 


92          HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

was  considered  by  the  convention,  was  in  reference  to  the 
surrender  of  fugitive  slaves.  The  provision  on  this  sub 
ject  came  up  for  consideration  on  the  29th  of  August, 
1787.  It  was  in  these  words :  '  If  any  person  be  bound 
to  service  or  labor  in  any  part  of  the  United  States,  and 
shall  escape  into  another  State,  he  or  she  shall  not  be  dis 
charged  from  such  service  or  labor,  in  consequence  of  any 
regulation  subsisting  in  the  State  to  which  they  shall 
escape,  but  shall  be  delivered  up  to  the  person  justly  claim 
ing  their  service  or  labor.' 

"The  propriety  and  justice  of  this  provision  were  so 
obvious,  that  it  was  adopted  by  the  unanimous  vote  of  the 
convention.  Elliott's  Debates,  vol.  1,  p.  303. 

"  Your  committee  have  thus  reviewed  the  history  of  all 
the  provisions  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
which  have  a  direct  bearing  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  and 
it  will  be  seen  that  on  every  point  they  are  of  the .  most 
distinct  and  imperative  character.  They  are  in  the  nature 
of  formal  covenants.  These  covenants  constituted  the 
consideration  for  which  the  Southern  States  agreed  to 
make  concessions  on  their  part,  intended  for  the  public 
good.  Without  these  covenants  on  the  part  of  the 
Northern  States,  the  Constitution  could  not  have  been 
formed  or  adopted.  A  wise  and  patriotic  conciliation 
pervaded  the  councils  of  the  convention,  which  secured 
harmony  in  all  their  deliberations,  and  a  unanimous  vote 
in  favor  of  the  Constitution. 

"  When  their  work  was  accomplished,  by  order  of  the 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.  93 

convention  it  was  submitted  to  the  Continental  Congress, 
accompanied  by  a  letter  from  George  Washington,  which 
is  so  replete  with  just  and  patriotic  sentiments,  and  so 
instructive  as  to  the  motives  by  which  the  convention  was 
guided,  that  your  committee  cannot  forbear  to  make  some 
extracts  from  it.  This  letter,  addressed  to  his  excellency, 
the  President  of  Congress,  was  approved  September  17, 
178T,  by  unanimous  order  of  the  convention. 

"'It  is  obviously  impracticable,'  writes  this  wisest  and 
most  patriotic  of  statesmen,  'in  the  federal  government 
of  these  States,  to  secure  all  rights  of  independent  sove 
reignty  to  each,  and  yet  provide  for  the  interest  and  safety 
of  all.  Individuals  entering  into  society  must  give  up  a 
share  of  liberty  to  preserve  the  rest.  The  magnitude  of 
the  sacrifice  must  depend  as  well  on  situation  and  circum 
stances  as  on  the  object  to  be  obtained.  It  is  at  all  times 
difficult  to  draw,  with  precision,  the  line  between  those 
rights  which  must  be  surrendered  and  those  which  may  be 
reserved ;  and  on  the  present  occasion,  this  difficulty  was 
increased  by  a  difference  among  the  several  States  as  to 
their  situation,  extent,  habits,  and  particular  interests. 

'"In  all  our  deliberations  on  this  subject,  we  kept 
steadily  in  our  vie^  that  which  appears  to  us  the  greatest 
interest  of  every  true  American — the  consolidation  of  our 
Union — in  which  is  involved  our  property,  felicity,  safety, 
perhaps  our  national  existence.  This  important  considera 
tion,  seriously  and  deeply  impressed  on  our  minds,  led 
each  State  in  the  convention  to  be  less  rigid  on  points  of 


94.  HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

inferior  magnitude  than  might  have  been  otherwise 
expected ;  and  thus  the  Constitution  which  we  now  present 
is  the  result  of  a  spirit  of  amity,  and  of  that  mutual 
deference  and  concession  which  the  peculiarity  of  our 
political  situation  rendered  indispensable. 

" '  That  it  will  meet  the  full  and  entire  approbation  of 
every  State,  is  not,  perhaps  to  be  expected ;  but  each  will 
doubtless  consider  that,  had  her  interest  been  alone  con 
sulted,  the  consequences  might  have  been  particularly  dis 
agreeable  or  injurious  to  others ;  that  it  is  liable  to  as  few 
exceptions  as  could  reasonably  have  been  expected,  we 
hope  and  believe ;  that  it  may  promote  the  lasting  welfare 
of  that  country  so  dear  to  us  all,  and  secure  her  freedom 
and  happiness,  is  our  most  ardent  wish.' 

"  It  is  doubtless  true,  that  the  Constitution  was  not,  in 
all  its  details,  acceptable  to  a  single  State  represented  in 
the  convention.  But  it  embodied  the  results  of  their 
joint  counsels,  governed  by  a  spirit  of  concord  and  amity, 
in  obedience  to  which  each  State  agreed  to  make  some 
concessions  for  the  common  good. 

"  The  first  Census  was  taken  in  the  year  1790,  and  from 
that  time  to  the  present,  the  constitutional  covenant  in 
regard  to  the  computation  of  three-fifths  of  the  slave 
population,  in  ascertaining  the  ratio  of  representation, 
has  been  faithfully  and  honestly  observed. 

"In  1807,  a  law  was  passed  by  Congress,  in  conformity 
with  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution,  prohibiting  the 
slave  trade  after  the  1st  of  January,  1808.  No  attempt 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.          95 

was  made  to  pass  such  a  law  before  the  day  indicated  by 
the  Constitution,  and  therefore  that  covenant  was  also 
performed  with  scrupulous  fidelity. 

"In  1793,  Congress,  in  obedience  to  the  mandate  of 
the  Constitution,  enacted  a  law  providing  for  the  rendition 
of  fugitives  from  labor.  This  act  was  defective  in  many 
of  its  provisions,  but  in  consequence  of  the  spirit  of  fra 
ternity  and  justice  which  pervaded  the  minds  of  the  people 
of  all  portions  of  the  Union,  in  the  earlier  and  better 
days  of  the  republic,  no  practical  inconvenience  resulted 
from  the  imperfections  in  the  law.  As  a  striking  illus 
tration  of  the  just  sentiments  which  prevailed  shortly  after 
the  government  of  the  United  States  went  into  practical 
operation,  your  committee  take  pleasure  in  referring  to 
the  patriotic  action  of  the  State  of  Vermont.  In  1786, 
that  State  had  passed  a  penal  law  to  prevent  the  sale  and 
transportation  of  negroes  and  mulattoes  out  of  the  State. 
See  Haswell,  ed.  117.  But  immediately  upon  her  admis 
sion  into  the  Union  she  repealed  it,  because  it  was  sup 
posed  to  be  in  conflict  with  the  section  of  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States  in  regard  to  the  surrender  of  fugi 
tives  from  labor. 

In  1802,  the  subject  of  the  duty  of  the  States  under 
the  federal  Constitution  was  referred  to  in  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Vermont,  and  the  judges  availed  themselves  of 
the  occasion  to  give  expression  to  sentiments  which  deserve 
to  be  deeply  impressed  on  the  hearts  of  the  people  of  all 
sections.  Judge  Tyler  remarked,  '  With  respect  to  what 


96  HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

has  been  observed  on  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the 
Union,  I  will  observe  that  whoever  views  attentively  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  while  he  admires  the 
wisdom  which  framed  it,  will  perceive  that  in  order  to 
unite  the  interests  of  a  numerous  people,  inhabiting  a 
broad  extent  of  territory,  and  possessing,  from  education 
and  habits,  different  modes  of  thinking  on  important 
subjects,  it  was  necessary  to  make  numerous  provisions  in 
favor  of  local  prejudices,  and  so  to  construct  the  Consti 
tution,  and  so  to  enact  the  laws  made  under  it,  that  the 
rights  or  supposed  rights  of  all  should  be  secured  through 
out  the  whole  national  domain.  In  compliance  with  the 
spirit  of  this  Constitution,  upon  our  admission  into  the 
federal  Union,  the  statute  laws  of  this  State  were  revised, 
and  a  penal  act,  which  was  supposed  to  militate  against 
the  third  member  of  the  second  section  of  the  4th  article 
of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  was  repealed ; 
and  if  cases  shall  happen  in  which  our  local  sentiments 
and  feelings  may  be  violated,  yet  I  trust  that  the  good 
people  of  Vermont  will,  on  all  such  occasions,  submit  with 
cheerfulness  to  the  national  Constitution  and  laws,  which, 
if  we  may  wish,  in  some  particular,  more  congenial  to  our 
modes  of  thinking,  yet  we  must  be  sensible  are  productive 
of  numerous  and  rich  blessings  to  us  as  individuals,  and 
to  the  State  as  an  integral  part  of  the  Union.' 

"  Chief  Justice  Jonathan  Robinson,  spoke  as  follows : 
'  I  concur  fully  in  opinion  with  the  Assistant  Judge.  I 
shall  always  respect  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.          97 

Union ;  and  though  it  may  sometimes  be  a  reluctant,  yet 
I  shall  always  render  a  prompt  obedience  to  them,  fully 
sensible  that  while  I  reverence  a  Constitution  and  laws 
which  favor  the  opinions  and  prejudices  of  the  citizens  of 
other  sections  of  the  Union,  the  same  Constitution  and 
laws  contain  also  provisions  which  are  favorable  to  our 
peculiar  opinions  and  prejudices,  and  which  may  possibly 
be  equally  irreconcilable  with  the  sentiments  of  the 
inhabitants  of  other  States,  as  the  very  idea  of  slavery  is 
to  us.'  See  2  Tyler's  Hep.  199,  200. 

"As  long  as  the  States  continued  to  be  governed  in 
their  relations  to  the  federal  government  and  to  each  other 
by  the  wise  and  patriotic  spirit  which  dictated  these  opin 
ions,  none  but  the  most  amicable  feelings  could  exist  be 
tween  them.  Up  to  this  period,  therefore,  no  disposition 
was  manifested  in  any  quarter  to  repudiate  the  guarantees 
of  the  Constitution. 

"The  acquisition  of  Louisiana  and  Florida,  embracing 
a  large  extent  of  territory  adapted  to  slave  labor,  gave 
rise  to  some  uneasiness  in  the  Northern  mind  in  regard  to 
the  future  ascendancy  of  the  slave  States  in  the  national 
councils.  This  uneasiness  continued  to  increase  until  1820, 
when  it  developed  itself  practically  by  an  attempt  to  im 
pose  restrictions  on  the  State  of  Missouri,  as  conditions 
precedent  to  her  admission  into  the  Union.  It  is  but  just, 
however,  to  state,  that  the  struggle  on  this  question  was 
marked  not  so  much  by  hostility  to  slavery  as  by  jealousy 
of  the  growing  politicaj  power  of  the  Southern  States. 
9 


98          HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

The  contest  in  regard  to  the  terms  on  which  Missouri 
should  be  admitted  created  deep  feeling  throughout  the 
Union.  It  was  the  first  occasion  on  which  parties  were 
arrayed  according  to  geographical  divisions,  and  it  was  at 
once  perceived  that  a  contest  of  that  character  was  fraught 
with  danger  to  the  harmony  and  permanency  of  the  Union. 
Fortunately,  the  restrictions  on  the  State  of  Missouri  were 
defeated.  A  line  of  partition  was  subsequently  drawn 
through  the  unoccupied  territory  of  the  United  States, 
along  the  parallel  of  36°  30'  to  our  western  frontier,  with 
an  enactment  that  slavery  was  to  be  prohibited  in  all  the 
territory  north  of  that  line,  and  permitted,  if  desired  by 
the  people,  in  all  south  of  it.  By  this  arrangement  the 
two  systems  of  civilization  and  labor  were  left  to  progress 
westward,  side  by  side. 

"  Under  this  compromise  it  was  supposed  that  all  causes 
of  controversy,  arising  out  of  the  irritating  subject  of 
slavery,  would  be  banished  from  the  halls  of  federal  legis 
lation.  But,  in  a  few  years,  an  inconsiderable  band  of 
fanatics,  instigated  by  a  mischievous  spirit,  besieged  the 
two  Houses  of  Congress  with  petitions  to  abolish  slavery 
in  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  to  prohibit  the  slave  trade 
between  the  States.  The  effect  of  these  petitions  was  to 
create  much  irritation  and  ill  feeling  between  different 
parts  of  the  Union. 

"  Such  was  the  aspect  of  the  slavery  question  in  1843-4, 
when  Texas,  which  had  recently  established  her  indepen 
dence  after  a  gallant  struggle  with  Mexico,  sought  admis- 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.          99 

sion  into  our  Union.  There  was  great  diversity  of  opinion 
among  the  people  of  the  United  States,  both  in  the 
Northern  and  Southern  States,  as  to  the  policy  of  receiving 
her  into  our  confederacy.  Animated  discussions  ensued 
in  all  parts  of  the  country  on  this  great  question ;  and 
finally,  so  absorbing  was  the  interest  which  was  felt  in  it, 
that  the  question  of  admission  or  non-admission  became 
an  important  element  in  the  presidential  election  of  1844. 
James  K.  Polk  was  the  representative  of  those  favorable 
to  admission,  and  Henry  Clay  of  those  opposed  to  it.  On 
this  great  issue  the  parties  went  before  the  country,  and 
the  verdict  of  public  opinion  was  in  favor  of  the  admission 
of  Texas  as  a  slave  State,  and  with  a  stipulation  in  the 
form  of  an  irrevocable  compact,  that,  at  a  future  day,  four 
more  slave  States  might  be  carved  out  of  her  vast  terri 
tory,  as  the  convenience  of  her  advancing  population 
might  require.  The  Northern  or  non-slaveholding  States 
which  voted  for  Mr.  Polk  were  Maine,  New  Hampshire, 
New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Indiana,  Illinois  and  Michigan, 
giving  103  electoral  votes.  The  slave  States  voting  with 
them  were  Virginia,  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama, 
Mississippi,  Louisiana,  Missouri  and  Arkansas — 67  elec 
toral  votes. 

This  vast  addition  to  the  slave  territory  of  the  United 
States  was  therefore  approved  by  the  concurrent  votes  of 
the  slaveholding  and  non-slaveholding  States  ;  and  what 
ever  responsibility  belongs  to  the  act,  in  a  moral,  social  or 


100         HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

political  aspect,  necessarily  attaches  itself  to  them  m 
common. 

"The  admission  of  Texas  was  soon  followed  by  the  war 
with  Mexico,  which,  after  a  series  of  brilliant  victories,  re 
sulted  in  the  subjugation  of  her  capital,  and  the  ratifica 
tion  of  the  treaty  of  Guadaloupe  Hidalgo,  by  which  she 
ceded  to  the  United  States,  Upper  California,  New  Mexico, 
and  other  territory  west  of  our  ancient  frontier.  The  status 
of  these  territories,  in  regard  to  slavery,  was  unsettled, 
and  immediately  after  the  ratification  of  the  treaty  of 
peace,  an  animated  struggle  on  this  question  arose  in  the 
two  branches  of  Congress. 

"  The  South  promptly  proposed  a  compromise,  by  which 
the  line  of  partition  along  the  parallel  of  36°  30'  should 
be  extended  to  the  Pacific  ocean,  and  that  the  covenants 
of  the  Missouri  compromise  should  be  extended  to  all  the 
newly  acquired  territory.  This  proposition  was  rejected 
by  the  North,  and  an  angry  contest  ensued,  which  seriously 
endangered  the  peace  and  tranquillity  of  the  Union.  Peace 
ful  counsels,  however,  prevailed.  The  most  eminent  men 
of  both  political  parties,  and  of  all  parts  of  the  confede 
racy,  labored  together  to  effect  an  adjustment;  and  finally, 
in  September,  1850,  under  the  auspices  of  Clay,  and  Cass, 
and  Webster,  and  Dickenson,  and  Douglas,  and  Foote,  and 
other  distinguished  men,  a  series  of  measures  were  matured, 
sanctioned  by  both  branches  of  Congress,  and  approved  by 
the  President. 

"Under  this  system  of  compromise,  California,  in  con- 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.        101 

formity  with  her  wishes,  expressed  through  her  State  con 
vention,  which,  though  irregularly  convened,  was  supposed 
to  represent  the  sentiments  of  her  people,  was  to  be  ad 
mitted  as  a  free  State,  and  the  status  of  the  residue  of  the 
territory  ceded  by  Mexico  was  to  be  determined  by  the 
people  of  the  territories  when  they  sought  admission  into 
the  Union.  The  system  of  adjustment  also  embraced  two 
other  important  features,  one  of  which  was  adopted  in 
deference  to  the  wishes  of  the  North,  and  the  other  for  m  » 
benefit  of  the  South.  The  first  was  the  abolition  of  tho 
slave  trade  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  the  second  was 
the  passage  of  a  more  efficient  law  for  the  rendition  of 
fugitives  from  labor,  to  supply  the  defects  of  the  act  of 
1793. 

"This  series  of  measures,  though  passed  in  the  form  of 
separate  bills,  constituted  substantially  one  system  of  paci 
fication.  The  passage  of  one  act  was  the  consideration 
for  the  passage  of  the  others.  Neither  could  have  passed 
without  the  assurance  of  the  passage  of  the  others.  The 
provisions  embraced  by  them  were  in  the  nature  of  mu 
tually  dependent  covenants;  and,  if  it  be  possible  to  in 
crease  the  sanctity  and  validity  of  a  law  by  superadding 
the  obligations  of  a  compact  and  of  plighted  faith,  no  ex 
ample  can  be  found  on  our  statute  books  better  calculated 
to  illustrate  the  principle  than  the  fugitive  slave  law  of 
1850.  All  the  covenants  entered  into  by  the  South  were 
of  a  nature  which  required  that  they  should  be  performed 
9* 


102        HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

without  delay,  while  the  compensating  agreements  of  the 
North  were  to  be  executed  in  future. 

The  South  acquiesced  in  the  admission  of  California  as 
a  free  State — permitted  Texas  to  be  dismembered  of  a 
portion  of  her  territory,  in  which,  by  her  compact  with  her 
sister  States,  slavery  was  to  exist — and  allowed  the  slave 
trade  to  be  prohibited  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  The 
price  which  the  North  agreed  to  pay  for  these  concessions 
was  nominal,  being  the  recognition  of  the  right  of  New 
Mexico  and  the  other  newly  acquired  territory  to  introduce 
or  exclude  slavery,  as  they  might  think  proper,  and  the 
passage  of  a  law  which  would  faithfully  fulfill  all  the  con 
stitutional  requirements  in  regard  to  the  surrender  of  fu 
gitive  slaves. 

"  Under  this  compromise,  the  South  has  performed  every 
thing  that  was  incumbent  on  her.  California  has  been 
admitted  as  a  free  State,  Texas  has  been  dismembered, 
and  the  slave  trade  in  the  District  of  Columbia  has  been 
abolished. 

"The  South  now  asks  the  fulfillment  of  the  compensating 
covenants  on  the  part  of  the  North.  It  is  true  that  the 
fugitive  slave  law  has  passed  through  all  the  forms  of 
legislation,  and  now  has  a  place  among  the  Acts  of  Con 
gress.  But  it  is  a  fact,  notorious  to  the  world,  that  the 
law  is  a  dead  letter :  that  while  it  keeps  the  promise  to 
the  ear,  it  hath  broken  it  to  the  hope.  From  the  time  of 
its  passage  to  the  present  hour,  the  people,  the  legislative 
assemblies,  and  the  judicial  tribunals  of  the  Northern 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.         103 

States,  have  manifested  the  most  determined  purpose  to 
set  it  at  naught.  Although  it  has  been  adjudged  by  the 
highest  court  of  the  United  States  to  be  in  conformity 
with  the  Constitution,  and  therefore  to  be  a  part  of  the 
supreme  law  of  the  land,  the  legislatures  of  almost  all  the 
Northern  States  have  passed  acts  to  nullify  or  evade  its 
practical  execution.  Many  of  their  courts  have  interposed 
every  obstacle  in  their  power  to  its  enforcement,  and  mobs 
have  risen  in  most  of  the  Northern  cities  to  resist  the  law, 
and  to  rescue  the  fugitives  from  labor  by  force  of  arms ; 
and  several  Southern  citizens  have  been  murdered  whilst 
engaged  in  attempts  to  arrest  their  slaves. 

"  From  the  compendium  of  the  Census  of  1850,  it  appears 
that  the  number  of  slaves  who  escaped  from  their  masters 
in  the  year  1849-50  was  1,011,  whose  aggregate  value  was 
near  one  million  of  dollars. 

"  This  condition  of  things  furnishes  a  striking  evidence 
of  the  growth  of  a  spirit  unfriendly  to  the  guarantees  of 
the  Constitution,  and  at  war  with  all  the  obligations  of 
national  faith,  which  is  in  painful  contrast  with  the  patri 
otic  conduct  of  Vermont  in  the  better  days  of  the  repub 
lic,  which  has  already  been  adverted  to. 

"  The  compromise  measures  of  1850  were  by  no  means 
acceptable,  in  all  their  features,  either  to  the  North  or  to  the 
South.  But  patriotic  men  of  both  sections  were  willing  to 
sacrifice  their  opinions  and  wishes  for  the  public  good ;  and 
in  1852  both  the  great  political  parties  which  then  divided 
the  country,  and  contended  for  the  power  to  guide  its 


104        HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

policy,  through  their  respective  National  Conventions,  de 
clared  their  purpose  to  abide  by  the  compromises  of  1850, 
and  to  discountenance  the  further  agitation  of  the  slavery 
question  in  or  out  of  Congress.  President  Pierce  having 
been  elected  on  this  platform,  availed  himself  of  the  earli 
est  appropriate  occasion,  in  his  first  annual  message  to 
Congress  in  December,  1853,  to  announce  his  purpose  to 
conform  to  the  pledges  given  in  his  behalf  by  those  who 
elected  him. 

"  In  1854,  a  bill  was  introduced  into  Congress,  under 
the  auspices  of  a  distinguished  senator  from  Illinois,  for 
the  organization  of  territorial  governments  in  Kansas  and 
Nebraska.  As  originally  reported,  the  bill  was  silent  in 
regard  to  slavery.  Subsequently,  the  bill  was  modified  so 
as  to  embrace  a  clause  which  declared  the  law  of  1820 — 
commonly  known  as  the  Missouri  Compromise  Act — in 
operative  and  void;  and  in  this  form  it  became  a  law. 
The  avowed  object  of  the  mover  and  friends  of  the  bill 
was  to  remove  the  slavery  agitation  from  the  halls  of  Con 
gress,  and  to  localize  it,  by  confining  it  to  the  territories 
as  they  should  respectively  be  in  a  condition  to  establish 
their  own  municipal  institutions.  The  bill  declared  on  its 
face  that  its  true  intent  and  meaning  was  *  not  to  legislate 
slavery  into  any  territory  or  State,  nor  to  exclude  it  there 
from,  but  to  leave  the  people  thereof  perfectly  free  to  form 
and  regulate  their  domestic  institutions  in  their  own  way, 
subject  only  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.' 

(t  The  passage  of  this  law  furnished  the  pretext  for  the 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.         105 

revival,  with  increased  bitterness,  of  all  the  sectional  feuds 
which  had  been  temporarily  allayed  by  the  measures  of 
1850.  Throughout  the  Northern  States,  old  party  lines 
were  almost  obliterated,  and  a  new  Northern  political  or 
ganization  sprang  into  existence,  under  the  designation  of 
the  Republican  Party.  This  organization  was  distinctly 
sectional  in  its  character,  and  it  soon  acquired  the  ascend 
ancy  in  almost  every  Northern  State.  The  ostensible  ob 
ject  of  this  party  was  to  organize  public  opinion  in  oppo 
sition  to  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  and  to 
the  extension  of  slavery  into  new  territories.  But  it  soon 
became  evident,  from  the  sectional  character  of  the  party, 
the  doctrines  which  it  inculcated,  and  the  policy  which  it 
pursued,  that  its  real  purpose  was  to  make  war  upon  the 
institution  of  slavery  itself.  Your  committee  have  no 
doubt  that  the  ulterior  designs  of  the  leaders  of  the  party 
were  carefully  concealed  from  the  great  body  of  those  who 
enlisted  under  its  banner,  and  who  would  have  then  re 
coiled  from  the  idea  of  invading  the  acknowledged  rights 
of  the  Southern  States,  and  trampling  under  foot  the 
solemn  compacts  of  the  Constitution.  The  object  was  to 
obtain  the  co-operation  of  the  Northern  people,  by  the 
specious  pretenses  of  opposition  to  the  repeal  of  the  Mis 
souri  Compromise  and  to  the  extension  of  slavery,  and 
then,  by  the  force  of  party  affinities  and  discipline,  to 
lead  or  drive  them  into  open  warfare  on  the  institution 
itself. 

"  The  first  evidence  of  the  true  design  of  the  Kepubli- 


106         HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

can  party,  is  to  be  found  in  their  failure  to  seek  the  assist 
ance  and  co-operation  of  those  citizens  of  the  Southern 
States  who  were  equally  opposed  with  themselves  to  the 
repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  and  the  whole  policy 
of  the  Government  in  regard  to  Kansas  and  Nebraska.  If 
their  purposes  had  been  such  as  they  represented  them  to 
be  at  the  outset,  they  would  naturally  have  sought  the  al 
liance  of  all  who  concurred  with  them  in  sentiment,  with 
out  reference  to  geographical  divisions.  This  they  declined 
to  do,  and  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  our  country, 
the  spectacle  was  exhibited  of  a  party  organized  on  a 
strictly  sectional  basis.  The  dangers  likely  to  result  from 
the  formation  of  such  parties  were  foreseen  by  the  Father 
of  his  country,  and  constituted  the  subject  of  one  of  his 
most  solemn  admonitions  to  his  countrymen  in  his  Fare 
well  Address.  These  are  his  impressive  words  : 

"  'In  contemplating  the  causes  which  may  disturb  our 
Union,  it  occurs  as  a  matter  of  serious  concern,  that  any 
ground  should  have  been  furnished  for  characterizing- par 
ties  by  geographical  discriminations,  Northern  and  South 
ern,  Atlantic  and  Western,  whence  designing  men  may 
endeavor  to  incite  a  belief  that  there  is  a  real  difference 
of  local  interests  and  views.  One  of  the  expedients  of 
party  to  acquire  influence  with  particular  districts  is  to 
misrepresent  the  opinions  and  aims  of  other  districts.  You 
cannot  shield  yourselves  too  much  against  the  jealousies 
and  heart-burnings  which  spring  from  these  misrepresenta- 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.         107 

tions*  They  tend  to  render  alien  to  each  other  those  who 
ought  to  be  bound  together  by  fraternal  affection.' 

"  The  purposes  of  the  party  were  still  further  disclosed, 
when  they  assembled  in  their  National  Convention,  to  give 
formal  and  authentic  expression  to  their  political  creed, 
and  to  select  their  candidate  for  the  Presidency.  In  one 
of  the  resolutions  adopted  by  that  body,  they  avow  the 
opinion  that  slavery  stands  on  the  same  level  with  poly 
gamy,  and  denounce  both,  as  'twin  relics  of  barbarism.' 
By  this  declaration  they  seek  to  place  all  the  Southern 
States  outside  of  the  pale  of  civilization,  and  to  cover 
with  obloquy  and  reproach  the  memory  of  Washington, 
Jefferson,  Henry,  Madison,  Marshall,  Clay,  Calhoun, 
Lowndes,  and  the  whole  host  of  Southern  patriots,  whose 
illustrious  names  constitute  the  brightest  jewels  in  the 
treasury  of  our  national  fame. 

"  When  it  was  supposed  that  public  opinion  was  suffi 
ciently  prepared  for  the  announcement,  we  find  the  doc 
trine  openly  proclaimed  in  various  parts  of  the  North,  by 
the  representative  men  of  the  Republican  party,  that  there 
exists  an  irrepressible  conflict  between  the  social  systems 
of  the  North  and  the  South,  which  must  progress  until 
one  or  the  other  is  exterminated. 

"  Such  is  the  organization,  and  such  are  the  cardinal 
doctrines  of  the  Republican  party,  as  derived  from  the  le 
gitimate  exponents  of  their  faith  and  policy. 

"  If  we  turn  to  the  legislative  action  of  the  Northern 
States,  in  which  that  party  has  obtained  the  ascendancy, 


108         HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

we  find  that  it  is  in  strict  conformity  with  their  mischiev 
ous  dogmas.  Their  statute  books  are  filled  with  enact 
ments  conceived  in  a  spirit  of  hostility  to  the  institutions 
of  the  South,  at  war  with  the  true  intent  and  meaning  of 
the  Federal  compact,  and  adopted  for  the  avowed  purpose 
of  rendering  nugatory  some  of  the  express  covenants  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

"It  would  extend  this  report  to  an  unreasonable  length, 
if  your  committee  should  attempt  to  review  this  unfriendly 
legislation  in  detail.  They  will,  therefore,  content  them 
selves  with  a  brief  reference  to  some  of  the  most  prominent 
features  of  these  laws. 

"Maine. 

"By  the  laws  of  this  State  it  is  provided,  that  if  a  fugi 
tive  slave  shall  be  arrested,  he  shall  be  defended  by  the 
Attorney  for  the  Commonwealth,  and  all  expenses  of  such 
defense  paid  out  of  the  public  treasury.  The  use  of  all 
State  and  county  jails,  and  of  all  buildings  belonging  to 
the  State,  are  forbidden  the  reception  or  securing  fugitive 
slaves ;  and  all  officers  are  forbidden,  under  heavy  penal 
ties,  from  arresting  or  aiding  in  the  arrest  of  such  fugi 
tives.  If  a  slaveholder,  or  other  person,  shall  unlawfully 
seize  or  confine  a  fugitive  slave,  he  shall  be  liable  to  be 
imprisoned  for  not  more  than  five  years,  oy  fined  not 
exceeding  $1,000.  If  a  slaveholder  take  a  slave  into  the 
State,  the  slave  is  thereby  made  free ;  and  if  the  master 
undertake  to  exercise  any  control  over  him,  he  is  subjected 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.         109 

to  imprisonment  for  not  less  than  one  year,  or  fined  not 
exceeding  $1,000. 

"  The  Dred  Scott  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  has 
been  declared  unconstitutional,  and  many  offensive  and 
inflammatory  resolutions  have  been  passed  by  the  Legis 
lature. 

"New  Hampshire. 

"Your  committee  have  not  had  access  to  a  complete 
series  of  the  laws  of  this  State.  But  a  general  index, 
which  has  been  consulted,  shows  that  a  law  exists  by  which 
all  slaves  entering  the  State,  either  with  or  without  the 
consent  of  their  masters,  are  declared  free ;  and  any  at 
tempt  to  capture  or  hold  them  is  declared  to  be  a  felony. 

"  Vermont. 

u  This  State  seems  to  have  entirely  forgotten  the  con 
servative  and  law-abiding  sentiment  which  governed  its 
action  in  the  earlier  period  of  her  history. 

"  Her  law  now  forbids  all  citizens  and  officers  of  the 
State  from  executing  or  assisting  to  execute  the  fugitive 
slave  law,  or  to  arrest  a  fugitive  slave,  under  penalty  01 
imprisonment  for  not  less  than  one  year,  or  a  fine  not  ex 
ceeding  $1,000.  It  also  forbids  the  use  of  all  public  jails 
and  buildings,  for  the  purpose  of  securing  such  slaves. 
The  Attorneys  for  the  State  are  directed,  at  public  ex 
pense,  to  defend,  and  procure  to  be  discharged,  every  per 
son  arrested  as  a  fugitive  slave.  The  habeas  corpus  act 
also  provides  that  fugitive  slaves  shall  be  tried  by  jury, 
10 


110  HELPER'S    IMPENDING    CRISIS    DISSECTED. 

and  interposes  other  obstacles  to  the  execution  of  the  fugi 
tive  slave  law. 

"  The  law  further  provides,  that  all  persons  unlawfully 
capturing,  seizing  or  confining  a  person  as  a  fugitive  slave, 
shall  be  confined  in  the  State  prison  not  more  than  ten 
years,  and  fined  not  exceeding  $1,000.  Every  person  held 
as  a  slave,  who  shall  be  brought  into  the  State,  is  declared 
free ;  and  all  persons  who  shall  hold  or  attempt  to  hold  as 
a  slave  any  person  so  brought  into  the  State,  in  any  form, 
or  for  any  time,  however  short,  shall  be  confined  in  the 
State  prison  not  less  than  one  nor  more  than  fifteen  years, 
and  fined  not  exceeding  §2,000.  The  Legislature  has  also 
passed  sundry  offensive  resolutions. 

"  Massachusetts. 

"  The  laws  of  this  State  forbid,  under  heavy  penalties, 
her  citizens,  and  State  and  county  officers,  from  executing 
the  fugitive  slave  law,  or  from  arresting  a  fugitive  slave, 
or  from  aiding  in  either ;  and  denies  the  use  of  her  jails 
and  public  buildings  for  such  purposes. 

The  Governor  is  required  to  appoint  commissioners  in 
every  county  to  aid  fugitive  slaves  in  recovering  their  free 
dom,  when  proceeded  against  as  fugitive  slaves,  and  all 
costs  attending  such  proceedings  are  directed  to  be  paid 
by  the  State. 

"  Any  person  who  shall  remove,  or  attempt  to  remove, 
or  come  into  the  State  with  the  intention  to  remove  or 
assist  in  removing  any  person  who  is  not  a  fugitive  slave, 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CKISIS  DISSECTED.         Ill 

within  the  meaning  of  the  Constitution,  is  liable  to  punish 
ment  by  fine  not  less  than  $1,000  nor  more  than  $5,000, 
and  imprisonment  not  less  than  one  nor  more  than  five 
years. 

"  Their  habeas  corpus  act  gives  trial  by  jury  to  fugitive 
slaves,  and  interposes  other  unlawful  impediments  to  the 
execution  of  the  fugitive  slave  law.  Her  Legislature  has 
also  passed  violent  and  offensive  resolutions. 

"  Connecticut. 

"This  State,  which  as  late  as  1840  tolerated  slavery 
within  her  own  borders,  as  appears  by  the  Census  of  that 
year,  prohibits,  under  severe  penalties,  all  her  officers  from 
aiding  in  executing  the  fugitive  slave  law,  and  vacates  all 
official  acts  which  may  be  done  by  them  in  attempting  to 
execute  that  law. 

"  By  the  Act  of  1854,  Sec.  1,  it  is  provided,  that  every 
person  who  shall  falsely  and  maliciously  declare,  represent, 
or  pretend  that  any  person  entitled  to  freedom  is  a  slave, 
or  owes  service  or  labor  to  any  person  or  persons,  with 
intent  to  procure  or  to  aid  or  assist  in  procuring  the  forci 
ble  removal  of  such  free  person  from  this  State  as  a  slave, 
shall  pay  a  fine  of  $5,000,  and  shall  be  imprisoned  five 
years  in  the  State  prison. 

"  '  Sec.  2.  In  all  cases  arising  under  this  act,  the  truth 
of  any  declaration,  representation  or  pretense  that  any  per 
son  being  or  having  been  in  this  State,  is  or  was  a  slave, 
or  owes  or  did  owe  service  or  labor  to  any  other  person  or 


112         HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

persons,  shall  not  be  deemed  proved,  except  by  the  testi 
mony  of  at  least  two  credible  witnesses  testifying  to  facts 
directly  tending  to  the  truth  of  such  declaration,  pretense 
or  representation,  or  by  legal  evidence  equivalent  thereto.' 

"  Sec.  3  subjects  to  a  fine  of  $5,000  and  imprisonment 
in  the  State  prison  for  five  years,  all  who  shall  seize  any 
person  entitled  to  freedom,  with  intent  to  have  such  person 
held  in  slavery. 

"  Sec.  4  prohibits  the  admission  of  depositions  in  all  cases 
under  this  act,  and  provides  that  if  any  witness  testifies 
falsely  in  behalf  of  the  party  accused  and  prosecuted  un 
der  this  act,  he  shall  be  fined  $5,000  and  imprisoned  for 
five  years  in  the  State  prison*  This  law  is,  in  the  opinion 
of  your  committee,  but  little  short  of  an  invitation  to  per 
jury,  by  imposing  no  penalties  for  false  swearing  against 
the  party  accused. 

"The  resolutions  of  the  Legislature  are  offensive  and 
disorganizing. 

"  Rhode  Island. 

"  The  statutes  of  Rhode  Island  provide  that  any  one 
who  transports,  or  causes  to  be  transported  by  land  or 
water,  any  person  lawfully  inhabiting  therein,  to  any  place 
without  the  limits  of  the  State,  except  by  due  course  of 
law,  shall  be  imprisoned  not  less  than  one  nor  more  than 
ten  years.  They  also  prohibit  all  officers  from  aiding  in 
executing  the  fugitive  slave  law,  or  arresting  a  fugitive 
slave,  and  deny  the  use  of  her  jails  and  public  buildings 
for  securing  any  such  fugitive. 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.        113 

"New  York. 

"  This  State  has  enacted  that  every  person  who  shall, 
without  lawful  authority,  remove  or  attempt  to  remove  from 
this  State  any  fugitive  slave,  shall  forfeit  to  the  party  ag 
grieved,  five  hundred  dollars,  and  be  imprisoned  not 
exceeding  ten  years  in  the  State  prison ;  and  all  accessories 
after  the  fact  are  also  liable  to  imprisonment. 

"  The  habeas  corpus  act  provides  that  fugitive  slaves  shall 
be  entitled  to  trial  by  jury,  and  makes  it  the  duty  of  all 
Commonwealth's  Attorneys  to  defend  fugitive  slaves  at  the 
expense  of  the  State. 

u  New  York  has  a  fugitive  law  of  her  own,  which  is  of  no 
practical  use,  and  has  forbidden  her  judicial  officers  from 
proceeding  under  any  other  law. 

"  Prior  to  1841,  persons  not  inhabitants  of  the  State  were 
allowed  to  take  their  slaves  with  them,  and  to  keep  them 
in  the  State  for  a  limited  time ;  but  the  law  has  been  re 
pealed. 

"  New  Jersey. 

"  Her  law  provides  that  if  any  person  shall  forcibly  take 
away  from  this  State  any  man,  woman  or  child,  bond  or 
free,  into  another  State,  he  shall  be  fined  not  exceeding 
$1,000  or  by  imprisonment  at  hard  labor  not  exceeding 
five  years,  or  both. 

"  The  habeas  corpus  act  gives  a  trial  by  jury  to  fugitive 
slaves,  and  all  judicial  officers  are  prohibited  from  acting 
under  any  other  than  the  law  of  New  Jersey. 
10* 


i!4        HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

"  Pennsylvania. 

"Prior  to  1847,  non-resident  owners  of  slaves  were 
allowed  to  retain  them  in  Pennsylvania  not  exceeding  six 
months.  In  1847,  this  privilege  was  revoked.  Slaves 
are  also  allowed  to  testify  in  all  cases  in  the  courts  of  Penn 
sylvania.  It  is  further  provided  by  law,  that  any  person 
*  who  violently  and  tumultuously  seizes  upon  any  negro 
or  mulatto,  and  carries  such  negro  away  to  any  place, 
either  with  or  without  the  intention  of  taking  such  negro 
before  a  district  or  circuit  judge,  shall  be  fined  not  exceed 
ing  $1,000,  and  imprisoned  in  the  county  jail  not  exceed 
ing  three  months.  The  law  also  punishes,  with  heavy  fine 
and  imprisonment  in  the  penitentiary,  any  person  who  may 
forcibly  carry  away,  or  attempt  to  carry  away,  any  free 
negro  or  mulatto  from  the  States.  The  sale  of  fugitive 
slaves  is  prohibited  under  heavy  penalties,  and  a  trial  by 
jury  is  secured  to  fugitive  slaves,  in  violation  of  the  laws 
of  the  United  States. 

"  Illinois. 

"Illinois  has  prohibited,  under  pain  of  imprisonment 
C)f  not  less  than  one  nor  more  than  seven  years,  any  per 
son  from  stealing  or  arresting  any  slave,  with  the  design 
of  taking  such  slave  out  of  the  State,  without  first  having 
established  his  claim  thereto,  according  to  the  laws  of  the 
United  States.  These  penalties  will  be  incurred  by  the 
master  who  pursues  his  slave  across  the  border,  and  appre- 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.         115 

hends  him  without  waiting  for  the  action  of  commissioner 
or  courts. 

"  Indiana. 

"  Some  of  the  laws  of  this  State  are  favorable  to  the 
recovery  of  fugitives  from  labor.  But  the  law  as  to  kid 
napping  is  similar  to  that  of  Illinois,  as  above  noted, 
except  that  the  penalties  are  greater.  The  fine  is  not  less 
than  $100  nor  more  than  $5,000,  and  the  term  of  impri 
sonment  not  less  than  two  nor  more  than  fourteen  years. 

"  Ohio. 

u  In  1858,  the  most  offensive  parts  of  the  laws  of  this 
State  were  repealed.  It  is  understood,  however,  that 
measures  are  in  contemplation,  if  they  have  not  been  already 
initiated,  to  re-enact  them. 

"  Michigan. 

"  The  laws  of  this  State  are  peculiarly  obnoxious  to  criti 
cism.  They  not  only  deny  the  use  of  the  jails  and  public 
buildings  to  secure  fugitive  slaves,  and  require  the  Attor 
neys  for  the  Commonwealth  to  defend  them  at  the  expense 
of  the  State,  but  the  law  of  Connecticut  in  relation  to  the 
punishment  of  persons  falsely  alleging  others  to  be  slaves, 
is  adopted,  with  the  addition  that  any  person  who  carries 
a  slave  into  this  State,  claiming  him  as  such,  shall  be  pun 
ished  by  imprisonment  in  the  State  prison  for  a  period  not 
exceeding  ten  years,  or  by  a  fine  not  exceeding  $1,000. 


116         HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

"  The  habeas  corpus  act  provides  for  trial  by  jury  of 
claims  to  fugitive  slaves. 

"Resolutions  have  also  been  adopted  by  the  Legislature, 
urging  the  repeal  of  the  fugitive  slave  law,  and  the  prohi 
bition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia  and  the  terri 
tories. 

"  Wisconsin. 

"  Following  the  example  of  her  sister  States  of  the  North, 
in  parts  of  their  hostile  legislation,  this  State  has,  in  some 
particulars,  gone  beyond  all  the  rest.  She  has  directed 
her  District  Attorneys,  in  all  cases  of  fugitive  slaves,  to 
appear  for  and  defend  them  at  the  expense  of  the  State. 
She  has  required  the  issue  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  on 
the  mere  statement  of  the  District  Attorney  that  a  person 
in  custody  is  detained  as  a  fugitive  slave,  and  directs  all  her 
judicial  and  executive  officers  who  have  reason  to  believe 
that  a  person  is  about  to  be  arrested  or  claimed  on  such 
ground,  to  give  notice  to  the  District  Attorney  of  the 
county  where  the  person  resides.  If  a  judge,  in  vacation, 
fails  to  discharge  the  arrested  fugitive  slave  on  habeas  cor 
pus,  an  appeal  is  allowed  to  the  next  circuit  Court.  Trial 
by  jury  is  to  be  granted  at  the  election  of  either  party, 
and  all  costs  of  trial,  which  would  otherwise  fall  on  the 
fugitive,  are  assumed  by  the  State.  A  law  has  also  been 
enacted,  similar  to  that  of  Connecticut,  for  the  punishment 
of  one  who  shall  falsely  and  maliciously  declare  a  person 
to  be  a  fugitive  slave,  with  intent  to  aid  in  procuring  the 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.         117 

forcible  removal  of  such  person  from  the  State  as  a  slave. 
A  section  is  added  to  the  provisions  of  this  Connecticut 
law,  for  the  punishment,  by  imprisonment  in  the  State 
prison,  of  any  person  who  shall  obstruct  the  execution  of 
a  warrant  issued  under  it,  or  aid  in  the  escape  of  the  per 
son  accused.  Another  section  forbids  the  enforcement  of 
a  judgment  recovered  for  violation  of  the  '  fugitive  slave 
act,'  by  the  sale  of  any  real  or  personal  property  in  the 
State,  and  makes  its  provisions  applicable  to  judgments 
theretofore  rendered. 

"  The  law  relative  to  kidnapping  punishes  the  forcible 
seizure,  without  lawful  authority,  of  any  person  of  color, 
with  intent  to  cause  him  to  be  sent  out  of  the  State  or 
sold  as  a  slave,  or  in  any  manner  to  transfer  his  service  or 
labor,  or  the  actual  selling  or  transferring  the  service  of 
such  person,  by  imprisonment  in  the  State  prison  from 
one  to  two  years,  or  by  fine  from  five  hundred  to  one 
thousand  dollars.  The  consent  of  the  person  seized,  sold 
or  transferred,  not  to  be  a  defense,  unless  it  appear  to  the 
jury  that  it  was  not  obtained  by  fraud,  nor  extorted  by 
duress  or  by  threats. 

"  Iowa.  ^ 

"  The  law  of  this  State  is  similar  to  that  of  Indiana, 
except  that  here  there  seems  to  be  no  direct  provision 
favoring  the  recovery  of  fugitive  slaves.  Like  that  of 
Indiana  and  Illinois,  the  law  as  to  kidnapping  may  be  so 
construed  as  greatly  to  obstruct  the  arrest  of  such  fugi 
tives.  The  maximum  of  punishment  is,  however,  some- 


118         HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

thing  less,  being  five  years  in  the  State  prison,  and  a  fine 
of  $1,000. 

"  Offensive  resolutions  have  also  been  adopted  by  its 
Legislature. 

"  Minnesota. 

"What  is  to  be  objected  to  the  legislation  of  this  State 
is,  that  there  is  no  sufficient  recognition  of  the  right  of 
the  master  to  recover  his  fugitive  slave ;  and  consequently, 
even  if  such  was  not  the  design  of  the  omission,  the  way 
is  left  open  for  the  perversion  of  the  law  relative  to  the 
writ  of  habeas  corpus,  to  the  injury  of  slave  owners. 

"  Such  are  some  of  the  evidences  derived  from  official 
sources,  of  the  rapid  growth  of  unkind  feelings  among  the 
people  of  the  North  to  their  brethren  of  the  South.  But 
there  are  others,  which  are  too  significant  to  be  entirely 
overlooked. 

"  The  recent  debates  in  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  have  disclosed  the  remarkable  fact,  that  sixty-eight 
Republican  members  of  Congress  have  united  in  a  written 
endorsement  and  recommendation  to  public  favor,  of  an 
atrocious  libel  on  Southern  institutions,  prepared  by  a 
man  who  was  openly  denounced,  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate 
of  the  United  States,  by  a  Senator  from  his  own  State, 
as  unworthy  of  trust  and  confidence.  This  infamous 
publication,  thus  commended  to  public  approval  by  the 
regularly  accredited  representatives  of  near  six  millions 
of  Northern  people,  abounds  in  the  most  insidious  appeals 
to  the  non-slaveholders  of  the  Southern  States,  and  seeks 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.         119 

to  inflame  the  minds  of  the  slaves  of  the  South,  and  to 
incite  them  to  rise  in  rebellion  against  the  authority  of 
their  masters ;  to  murder  them  and  their  families,  and  to 
ravage  the  country  with  fire  and  sword.  Yet,  with  a  full 
knowledge  of  all  these  facts,  one  of  the  endorsers  of  this 
libel  on  fifteen  States  of  the  confederacy,  has  been  nomi 
nated  and  persistently  pressed  by  the  members  of  the 
Republican  party,  for  election  to  the  Speakership  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States ;  and  not 
one  of  the  members  of  that  party  has  been  restrained, 
by  reason  of  that  endorsement,  from  giving  him  a  cordial 
support. 

"Thus,  under  a  Constitution  formed  to  'establish 
justice,  ensure  domestic  tranquillity,  provide  for  the 
common  defense,  promote  the  general  welfare,  and  secure 
the  blessings  of  liberty  to  ourselves  and  our  posterity,' 
we  behold  a  large  number  of  the  representatives  of  the 
people,  who  had  sworn  to  support  that  Constitution, 
lending  all  their  influence,  personal  and  official,  to  defeat 
the  great  objects  for  which  it  was  formed,  to  array  section 
against  section,  and  to  fill  the  country  with  all  the  horrors 
of  servile  insurrection  and  intestine  strife. 

"  Your  committee  might  also  refer  to  the  offensive  tone 
of  a  portion  of  the  Northern  press  and  pulpit,  and  to  the 
libellous  resolutions  of  numerous  popular  assemblies  in 
the  Northern  States,  as  evidences  of  the  decline  of  that 
spirit  of  fraternity  and  unity  which  animated  our  fathers . 
in  the  days  of  our  revolutionary  struggle.  These  are  the 


120         HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

ordinary  channels  through  which  public  opinion  makes 
itself  heard  and  felt.  But  it  would  probably  be  uncharit 
able  to  the  Northern  people  to  hold  them  responsible  for 
all  the  ravings  of  fanatical  agitators ;  and  we  therefore 
prefer  to  rely  on  those  authentic  manifestations  of  un 
friendly  feeling  proceeding  from  the  official  representatives 
of  the  people,  and  for  which  the  constituent  body  is  justly 
responsible. 

"  Your  committee  cheerfully  acquit  a  large  number  of 
the  Northern  people  of  any  positive  and  active  participa 
tion  in  these  aggressions  on  Southern  rights  and  interests. 
The  recent  demonstrations  of  popular  feeling  made  in 
some  of  the  Northern  cities,  are  accepted  in  the  spirit  in 
which  they  were  offered.  But  abstract  resolutions  in 
favor  of  the  guarantees  of  the  Constitution  are  of  no 
avail,  unless  they  are  followed  by  corresponding  action. 
As  long  as  the  conservative  people  of  the  North  remain 
passive,  and  permit  agitators  and  fanatics  and  enemies  of 
the  South  to  fill  positions  of  public  trust,  and  to  speak 
and  to  act  on  behalf  of  their  respective  States,  they 
cannot  escape  the  responsibility  which  attaches  to  their 
declarations  and  acts.  Those  who  have  it  in  their  power 
to  prevent  the  perpetration  of  a  wrong,  and  fail  to  exer 
cise  that  power,  must  to  a  great  extent  be  responsible  for 
the  wrong  itself. 

"  Thus  the  conservative  men  of  the  North  are  respon 
sible  for  the  organization  and  action  of  the  Republican 
party.  It  was  their  duty  to  have  prevented  it,  and  they 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.        121 

had  the  power  to  fulfill  that  duty.  They  preferred,  how 
ever,  to  remain  inactive,  and  thus  permitted  the  Repub 
lican  party  to  obtain  the  ascendency  in  the  State  and 
national  councils.  They  could  not  have  been  ignorant  of 
the  fact  that  such  an  organization  must  necessarily  prove 
dangerous  to  the  Union.  They  must  have  foreseen  that  a 
party  organized  on  the  basis  of  hostility  to  slavery  ex 
tension,  would  very  soon  become  a  party  opposed  to 
slavery  itself.  The  whole  argument  against  the  extension 
of  slavery  is  soon,  by  a  very  slight  deflection,  made  to 
bear  against  the  existence  of  slavery,  and  thus  the  anti- 
extension  idea  is  merged  in  that  of  abolition.  Accord 
ingly  we  find,  notwithstanding  the  denial  by  the  Repub 
lican  party  of  any  purpose  to  interfere  with  slavery  where 
it  exists,  that  the  tendency  of  its  policy  is  to  its  extermi 
nation  everywhere. 

"  The  logical  consequences  of  their  teachings  have  been 
exhibited  in  the  recent  raid  at  Harper's  Ferry;  and  so 
long  as  that  party  maintains  its  present  sectional  organiza 
tion,  and  inculcates  its  present  doctrines,  the  South  can 
expect  nothing  less  than  a  succession  of  such  traitorous 
attempts  to  subvert  its  institutions  and  to  incite  its  slaves 
to  rapine  and  murder.  The  crimes  of  John  Brown  were 
neither  more  nor  less  than  practical  illustrations  of  the 
doctrines  of  the  leaders  of  the  Republican  party.  The 
very  existence  of  such  a  party  is  an  offense  to  the  whole 
South. 

Whether  the  recent  outrages  perpetrated  upon  the  soilt 
11 


122        HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

and  citizens  of  Virginia  will  have  the  effect  of  awakening 
the  conservative  sentiment  of  the  North  into  efficient 
action,  remains  to  be  seen.  Your  committee  cannot  relin 
quish  the  hope  that  such  will  be  its  effect,  and  that  thus 
good  may  come  out  of  evil.  Your  committee  have  no 
appeals  or  remonstrances  to  address  to  their  fellow-citizens 
of  the  North.  They  doubtless  comprehend  their  obliga 
tions  under  the  Constitution  to  the  people  of  the  South. 
If  they  shall  in  future  show  a  readiness  to  fulfill  those  ob 
ligations,  Virginia  and  the  other  Southern  States  are  pre 
pared  to  bury  the  past  in  oblivion,  and  to  respond  with 
cordiality  to  every  manifestation  of  a  returning  spirit  of 
fraternity,,  As  Virginia  was  among  the  foremost  in  the 
struggle  for  national  independence,  and  contributed  as 
much  as  any  other  State  to  the  formation  of  the  constitu 
tional  Union,  she  would  be  among  the  last  to  abandon  it, 
provided  its  obligations  be  faithfully  observed.  Her  sons 
having  been  educated  to  cherish  '  a  cordial,  habitual  and 
immovable  attachment  to  our  national  Union — accustomed 
to  think  and  speak  of  it  as  the  palladium  of  their  political 
safety  and  prosperity,  watching  for  its  preservation  with 
jealous  anxiety,  discountenancing  whatever  may  suggest 
even  a  suspicion  that  it  may  in  any  event  be  abandoned, 
and  indignantly  frowning  upon  the  first  dawning  of  every 
attempt  to  alienate  any  portion  of  our  country  from  the 
rest,  or  to  enfeeble  the  sacred  ties  which  now  link  together 
the  various  parts.' 

"  But  the  Union  which  they  have  been  taught  to  love 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.         123 

and  revere  is  the  Union  contemplated  by  the  Constitution — 
a  Union  of  communities  having  equal  rights — a  Union  regu 
lated  and  governed  by  the  principles  of  the  Constitution — 
a  Union  of  sovereign  States,  entitled  to  regulate  their  do 
mestic  affairs  in  their  own  way,  and  bound  to  fulfill  their 
obligations  to  each  other  with  scrupulous  fidelity.  When 
it  shall  cease  to  be  such  a  Union,  it  will  have  forfeited  all 
claims  to  their  respect  and  affection.  Virginia  feels  that 
she  has  discharged  her  whole  duty  to  her  sister  States,  and 
she  asks  nothing  from  them  that  is  not  guaranteed  to  her 
by  the  plain  terms  of  the  federal  compact.  She  has  not 
sought  officiously  to  intermeddle  with  the  domestic  concerns 
of  other  States,  and  she  demands  that  they  shall  refrain 
from  all  interference  with  hers. 

"But  it  is  clear,  from  the  review  of  the  condition  of  the 
public  sentiment  of  the  Northern  States  for  the  last  five 
years,  as  indicated  by  their  legislation  and  in  other  au 
thentic  forms,  that  many  of  their  people  have  ceased  to 
respect  the  rights  of  the  Southern  States,  to  recognize  the 
obligations  of  the  federal  compact,  or  to  cherish  for  us 
those  friendly  sentiments  which  gave  birth  to  the  Consti 
tution  of  the  United  States.  A  proper  sense  of  self-respect 
and  the  instinct  of  self-preservation,  therefore,  require 
that  we  should  adopt  such  measures  as  may  be  necessary 
to  secure  ourselves  against  future  aggression,  and  to  meet 
every  emergency  which  may  hereafter  arise.  We  desire 
nothing  but  friendly  relations  with  our  sister  States  of  the 
North.  We  ask  of  them  nothing  to  which  they  have  not 


124         HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

solemnly  bound  themselves  by  the  compact  of  the  Consti 
tution.  But  we  understand  our  rights,  and  we  are  reso 
lutely  determined  to  maintain  them.  We  disclaim  all 
aggressive  purposes.  But  when  we  are  threatened  with 
the  knife  of  the  assassin  and  torch  of  the  incendiary,  we 
cannot  fold  our  arms  in  blind  security.  We  have  no  desire 
to  rupture  the  political,  commercial  or  social  ties  which 
bind  us  to  the  North,  so  long  as  our  rights  are  respected ; 
but,  admonished  by  the  past,  it  is  our  duty  to  prepare  for 
the  future  by  placing  ourselves  in  an  attitude  of  defense, 
and  by  adopting  such  measures  as  may  be  necessary  for 
our  security  and  welfare. 

"Your  committee,  therefore,  recommend  to  the  General 
Assembly,  the  following  resolutions  for  adoption : 

"  1.  Resolved,  That  the  appropriate  standing  committees 
of  the  two  'Houses  of  the  General  Assembly  be  instructed 
to  prepare  and  report  such  bills  as  in  their  judgment  may 
be  necessary  to  organize,  arm  and  equip  the  militia  of  the 
State  for  active  and  efficient  service 

"2.  Resolved^  That  the  committees  on  finance  be  in 
structed  to  prepare  and  report  such  bills  as  in  their  judg 
ment  may  be  most  effectual  (without  violating  the  provi 
sions  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States)  in  encour 
aging  the  domestic  manufactures  of  our  own  State,  pro 
moting  direct  trade  with  foreign  countries,  and  establishing, 
as  far  as  may  be  practicable,  our  commercial  independence. 

U3.  Resolved,  That  we  earnestly  invite  the  co-operation 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.        125 

of  our  sister  States  of  the  South  in  carrying  out  the  policy 
indicated  in  the  foregoing  resolutions. 

"4.  Resolved,  That  the  committees  for  courts  of  justice 
be  instructed  to  report  such  bills  as  may  be  necessary  to 
secure  the  more  prompt  and  effectual  punishment  of  all 
foreign  emissaries  and  others,  who  may  be  found  guilty  of 
conspiring  against  the  peace  of  our  community,  or  seeking 
to  incite  our  slaves  to  insurrection. 

"5.  Resolved,  That  the  course  of  the  late  Governor,  in 
regard  to  the  Harper's  Ferry  affair,  is  amply  vindicated 
by  the  evidence  before  the  committee,  and  entitles  him  to 
the  emphatic  commendation  of  the  country." 

NOTE.— When  the  British  were  overrunning  the  Southern  States 
under  Lord  Cornwallis  and  Cockburn,  they  scattered  proclamations 
"broadcast,  offering  freedom  and  gold  to  the  slaves  if  they  would  de- 
feert  their  masters.  Yet,  notwithstanding  these  offers  of  the  British, 
very  few  negroes  deserted  their  masters  in  the  hour  of  their 
need ;  but  on  the  contrary  fought  hard  for  the  protection  of  their 
masters  and  mistresses  ;  and  such  would  prove  to  be  the  case 
again,  should  war  commence  between  the  South  and  her  enemies. 
At  New  Orleans,  when  the  British  under  Lord  Packenham  marched 
against  the  city,  inciting  the  blacks  to  turn  against  their  masters 
and  receive  their  freedom,  they  were  answered  with  a  volley  of 
musketry,  and  no  men  fought  harder  at  the  Battle  of  New  Orleans 
than  the  Negroes.  What  does  this  show  but  affection  for  the  master  ? 

In  regard  to  the  few  slaves  whom  the  British  induced  to  desert 
their  masters,  the  following  will  show  how  they  were  afterward 
treated. 

"  Cockburn,  the  Commander  of  the  British,  returned  to  his  barges 
with  a  valuable  booty,  and  a  number  of  slaves,  whom  he  had 
induced  to  leave  their  masters  under  a  promise  of  freedom,  which 
he  afterward  redeemed  by  selling  them  in  the  West  Indies." — Page 
137,  "Breckenridge's  History  of  the  Late  War."  Such  is  the  phi 
lanthropic  feeling  that  inspired  the  British  (whom  Helper,  Seward  & 
Co.  are  following  in  the  footsteps  of)  during  the  late  War. 

11* 


CHAPTER   VI. 

Helper's  Book  Ruining  the  Trade  of  the  North — Trade  Crushed — 
The  Bankruptcy  of  the  entire  North  predicted— Helper's  Advice 
to  the  North  adopted  hy  the  entire  South — Republican  Party  Re 
sponsible  for  the  Withdrawal  of  the  Southern  Trade—"  The  Shoe 
commences  to  Pinch"— Helper's  Statistics  of  the  Prices  of  Land 
in  the  South  demolished. 

"  INSCRIBED  on  the  banner  which  we  herewith  unfurl 
to  the  world,  with  the  full  and  fixed  determination  to  stand 
by  it  or  die  by  it,  unless  one  of  more  virtuous  efficacy  shall 
be  presented,  are  the  mottoes  which,  in  substance,  embody 
the  principles,  as  we  conceive,  that  should  govern  us  in 
our  patriotic  warfare  against  the  most  subtle  and  insidious 
foe  that  ever  menaced  the  inalienable  rights  and  liberties 
and  dearest  interests  of  America  ! 

Is*.  Thorough  Organization  and  Independent  Political 
Action  on  the  part  of  the  Non-slaveholding  Whites  of  the 
South. 

2nd.  Ineligibility  of  Slaveholders — Never  another  Vote 
to  the  Trafficker  in  Human  Flesh. 

3rd.  No  Co-operation  with  Slaveholders  in  Politics — No 
Fellowship  with  them  in  Religion — No  Affiliation  with 
thorn  in  Society. 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.         127 

4th.  No  Patronage  to  Slaveholding  Merchants — No 
Guestships  in  Slave-waiting  Hotels — No  Fees  to  Slave- 
holding  Lawyers — No  Employment  of  Slaveholding  Phy 
sicians — No  Audience  to  Slaveholding  Parsons. 

6th.  No  Recognition  of  Pro-slavery  men,  except  as 
Ruffians,  Outlaws  and  Criminals. 

6th.  Abrupt  Discontinuance  of  Subscription  to  Pro- 
slavery  Newspapers. 

7th.  The  greatest  possible  Encouragement  to  Free 
White  Labor. 

Sth.  No  more  Hiring  of  Slaves  by  Non-slaveholders. 

9th.  Immediate  Death  to  Slavery  ;  or,  if  not  immediate, 
Unqualified  Proscription  of  its  Advocates  during  the  Pe 
riod  of  its  Existence. 

IQth.  A  Tax  of  Sixty  Dollars  on  every  Slaveholder  for 
each  and  every  Negro  in  his  possession  at  the  present 
time,  or  at  any  intermediate  time  between  now  and  the 
4th  of  July,  1863;  said  money  to  be  applied  to  the 
transportation  of  the  Blacks  to  Liberia,  to  their  coloniza 
tion  in  Central  or  South  America,  or  to  their  comfortable 
settlement  within  the  boundaries  of  the  United  States. 

HtfA.  An  additional  Tax  of  Forty  Dollars  per  annum, 
to  be  levied  annually,  on  every  Slaveholder  for  each  and 
every  Negro  found  in  his  possession  after  the  4th  of  July, 
1863 ;  said  money  to  be  paid  into  the  hands  of  the  Ne 
groes  so  held  in  slavery ;  or,  in  cases  of  death,  to  their 
next  of  kin,  and  to  be  used  by  them  at  their  own  option." 
Pp.  155-6. 


128        HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

Such  is  the  platform  as  laid  down  by  Helper,  and 
adopted  by  sixty-eight  Members  of  Congress  of  the 
"Black  Republican  Party."  We  shall  take  this,  then,  as 
the  platform  of  the  Republican  party,  as  it  was  under  the 
direction  of  the  "Publishing  Committee"  of  that  party,  that 
Helper's  incendiary  work  was  published,  the  proceeds  of 
which  are  to  be  used  in  buying  up  the  votes  si  free  negroes 
and  poor,  miserable  outcasts  as  well  as  disaffected  persons, 
for  the  support  of  their  nominee,  and  to  make  war  on  one 
part  of  our  confederacy  with.  Conservative  people  of  the 
North  !  !  will  you  submit  to  the  party  adopting  such  a 
platform  ever  assuming  the  reins  of  power  of  this  gov 
ernment  ? 

Now,  let  us  see  how  this  platform  will  work.  The 
South,  having  in  view  her  safety  as  well  as  danger,  has,  to 
a  certain  extent,  (and  will  soon  fully)  adopted  the  first 
sentence  of  the  fourth  section  of  Helper's  platform,  (i.  e., 
Republican,)  with  the  following  modification  :  "  No  Patron 
age  to  Northern  (Sectional)  Merchants."  Let  us  consider 
the  result  that  has  followed  the  adoption  of  the  above, — 
without  further  comment,  as  it  speaks  for  itself.  And,  in 
doing  so,  we  would  present  to  the  consideration  of  the 
reader  the  present  state  of  affairs  in  New  England,  the 
whole  of  which  is  attributable  to  the  interference  of  the 
North  with  Southern  rights  and  Southern  institutions. 

MANUFACTORIES  IN   THE   SOUTH,    AS   COPIED   FROM  THE   CORRES 
PONDENT   OF   THE   NEW   YORK   HERALD. 

COLUMBUS,  GA.,  Feb.  3,  1860. 
In  these  non-intercourse  and  disunion  times,  a  sketch  of  the 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING-  CRISIS  DISSECTED.         129 

principal  cotton  and  woolen  mills  in  this  State  may  not  prove 
uninteresting  to  your  readers.  That  Georgia  is  a  great  manu 
facturing  as  well  as  producing  State  I  think  there  can  be  no 
doubt.  For  years  past,  all  the  coarse  plantation  goods  con 
sumed  within  the  borders  of  the  State  have  been  manufactured, 
not  in  New  England,  but  at  home.  Besides  some  thirty  cotton 
and  woolen  mills  now  in  successful  operation,  there  are  numer 
ous  machine  shops,  foundries,  and  paper  mills,  established  in 
all  the  leading  towns  where  there  is  water  power,  while  flour 
mills  and  distilleries  are  common  in  every  village.  With  the 
natural  advantages  afforded  the  people,  in  the  shape  of  water 
power  and  a  long  navigable  river,  it  is  no  wonder  that  they 
should  have  made  the  attempt  to  compete  with  Northern 
manufacturers.  That  they  have  succeeded  in  making  coarse 
goods  as  cheap  as  they  can  be  made  in  New  England,  is  pretty 
evident.  Let  non-intercourse  be  established,  and  how  easy 
will  it  be  for  Georgia  to  supply  half  of  the  Southern  States 
with  plantation  goods  such  as  she  now  manufactures.  Even 
to-day,  her  fabrics  find  their  way  into  Alabama  and  Missis 
sippi,  and  so  pressing  is  the  demand  upon  manufacturers  in 
this  city,  that  they  find  it  difficult  to  supply  the  numerous 
orders  sent  to  them  daily.  The  mills  are  all  doing  a  thriving 
business,  and  are  increasing  in  size  and  number  every  year. 
By-and-by,  fine  goods  will  be  manufactured  here,  and  the  mil 
lions  annually  spent  at  the  North  for  prints,  muslins,  etc.,  will 
be  expended  here  at  home  among  our  own  manufacturers. 
How  will  Massachusetts  feel  then  ? 

Columbus,  at  the  head  of  steam  navigation  on  the  Chatta- 
hookee  river,  is  destined  to  become  one  of  the  largest  manu 
facturing  places  in  the  South.  The  fall  of  the  river  at  this 
point  is  fourteen  feet,  and  with  the  present  dam  it  is  calculated 
there  is  sufficient  power  to  drive  194,8tt  spindles,  and  consume 
48,000  bales  of  cotton  annually.  There  are  five  mills  now  in 
operation,  each  doing  a  thriving  business.  The  Eagle  Maim- 


130       HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

facturing  Company's  mills  rank  first  perhaps  in  point  of  im 
portance.  They  are  carried  on  under  the  superintendence  of 
J.  Rhodes  Brown,  and  have  been  in  operation  since  1850. 
About  300,000  pounds  of  wool  and  1,600  bales  of  cotton  are 
annually  consumed,  producing  about  $225,000  worth  of  goods. 
The  building  is  a  very  massive  one,  the  walls  being  thirty-four 
inches  thick  at  the  base.  It  is  four  stories  and  basement  high. 
Each  floor  is  supported  by  girders  12  by  14  inches  thick,  and 
three  rows  of  substantial  columns.  The  flooring  is  four  inches 
in  thickness,  and  constructed  of  two  layers  of  planking.  The 
basement  is  occupied  as  a  picking-room,  where  there  are  three 
machines  attended  by  six  hands.  The  wool  carding-room  is 
also  on  this  floor.  There  are  seven  sets  of  cards,  employing 
twelve  persons.  The  first  floor  is  used  for  carding  cotton.  On 
this  floor  there  are  forty-eight  carding  machines,  with  the  ne 
cessary  drawing  machines  and  speeders,  employing  twenty 
hands,  mostly  boys.  The  weaving  room  is  on  the  second  floor. 
Here  there  are  136  looms  in  operation,  giving  employment  to 
some  seventy  girls,  two  overseers,  and  a  few  small  boys.  Each 
loom  is  capable  of  manufacturing  from  thirty-five  to  forty  yards 
of  osnaburgs  and  kerseys  a  day.  The  most  skillful  of  the  girls 
receive  one  dollar  a  day,  but  there  are  many  who  get  only  fifty 
cents.  On  the  third  floor  the  spinning  is  carried  on.  There 
are  thirty  spinning  frames  and  five  thousand  spindles  in  opera 
tion,  giving  employment  to  seventy  children.  On  this  floor 
there  are  also  spoolers  and  warpers  necessary  to  prepare  yarn 
for  the  dressing  and  sizing  frames;  also  a  rope  machine  capable 
of  turning  out  one  hundred  thousand  pounds  of  rope  annually, 
and  machinery  for  the  manufacture  of  cotton  yarn  and  sewing 
thread.  On  the  fourth  floor  are  twelve  hundred  and  forty 
woolen  spindles,  warping  mills,  dressing  and  sizing  frames  and 
beaming  machines,  employing  about  twenty  hands.  Connected 
with  the  mill  is  a  dyeing  establishment,  and  the  office  of  the 
agent.  About  225  operatives  in  all  are  employed  in  this  estab- 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.         131 

lishment.  The  Eagle  Mills  do  a  flourishing  business.  Last 
year  a  dividend  of  ten  per  cent,  was  declared ;  this  year  it  will 
be  increased  to  twelve  per  cent.  Nothing  but  osnaburgs,  ker 
seys  and  jeans  are  manufactured. 

The  Howard  Mills,  in  the  same  neighborhood,  employ  some 
200  hands,  and  manufacture  nothing  but  cotton  goods.  5,000 
spindles  are  in  operation. 

The  Grant  Mills  employ  about  100  hands  in  the  manufacture 
of  osnaburgs  and  kerseys. 

The  Columbus  Factory,  situated  about  three  miles  above  the 
city,  manufactures  osnaburgs  and  kerseys.  There  is  a  boot  and 
shoe  factory,  a  tan-yard  and  flour  mill  attached.  Some  200 
hands  are  employed  in  this  establishment. 

The  Cowetta  Falls  Factory,  established  in  1844,  employs 
some  seventy-five  operatives.  2,100  spindles  are  in  operation. 

The  Macon  Manufacturing  Company,  at  Macon,  manufac 
ture  a  superior  article  of  sheeting  and  shirtings,  employing 
some  180  hands. 

At  Seven  Islands,  on  the  Ocmulgee  river,  is  the  Planter's 
Factory, — spindles  3,200,  employing  75  hands. 

The  Milledgeville  Manufacturing  Company,  at  Milledgeville, 
employ  about  120  operatives,  and  run  3,136  spindles,  princi 
pally  in  the  manufacture  of  osnaburgs  and  sheetings. 

Sweet  Water  Cotton  factory,  situated  on  Sweet  Water 
creek,  in  Campbell  county,  is  designed  for  6,000  spindles  and 
90  looms. 

Bowen's  factory,  on  Snake  creek,  Carroll  county,  employs 
some  50  hands. 

Athens  Manufacturing  Company,  in  Clark  county, — 2,500 
spindles.  Number  of  operatives,  90. 

Princeton  Manufacturing  Company,  on  the  Oconee  river,  two 
miles  below  Athens.  Cotton  spindles,  2,184,  wool  do.,  240. 

Mars  Hill  factory,  on  Barber's  creek,  seven  miles  below 
Athens.  Spindles,  350.  Looms,  12. 


132         HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

White's  Georgia  factory,  also  on  Barber's  creek.  Spindles, 
l,T04.  Looms,  20. 

Schley's  cotton  mills,  about  10  miles  from  Augusta,  employ 
a  large  number  of  hands. 

Roswell  Manufacturing  Company,  on  Yickery's  creek,  Cobb 
county, — two  mills,  10,000  spindles,  employing  about  350  per 
sons.  Heavy  cotton  goods  only  manufactured. 

Augusta  Manufacturing  Company,  near  Augusta  ;  spindles, 
10,000 ;  looms,  200,  each  capable  of  turning  out  from  forty 
to  forty-five  yards  per  day.  Number  of  operatives  employed, 
400. 

On  Broad  river,  four  miles  above  its  junction  with  Savannah, 
there  is  a  cotton  factory  which  employs  nearly  100  hands. 
5,000  spindles  are  in  operation. 

Long  Shoals  factory  in  Greene  County,  and  Skull  Shoals,  in 
the  same  neighborhood,  manufacture  a  large  quantity  of  cotton 
goods. 

In  Henry  County,  near  McDonough,  there  is  a  large  factory 
in  operation. 

High  Shoals  factory,  on  the  Appalachee  river,  makes  domes 
tics  and  yarns. 

Eaton  Manufacturing  Company,  on  Little  river,  runs  1,836 
spindles  and  thirty-six  looms. 

Richmond  factory,  on  Spirit  creek,  near  Augusta,  runt* 
1,500  spindles  and  forty  looms.  Number  of  operatives 
seventy. 

Troup  factory,  near  Lagrange,  runs  1,600  spindles,  and 
employs  sixty-five  operatives  in  the  manufacture  of  osnaburgs. 

Franklin  factory,  on  Tobler's  creek,  Upson  County,  runs 
1,320  spindles. 

Way  man's  factory,  on  the  same  stream,  runs  1,664  spindles 
and  twenty-six  looms, 

Flint  River  factory,  runs  1,560  spindles  and  twenty-six 
looms. 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.        133 

Thomaston  factory,  on  Potato  creek,  TJpson  County,  runs 
1,260  spindles,  and  employs  fifty  hands. 

Rock  Mills  factory,  on  the  Ogeechee  river,  Warren  County 
runs  600  spindles,  employing  forty  hands. 

Brothers'  factory,  in  the  same  neighborhood,  runs  1,000 
spindles  and  employs  thirty  hands. 

Joy  Mill,  on  Yickery  creek,  manufactures  colored  stuffs  for 
pantaloons,  and  employs  some  fifty  hands. 

The  operatives  in  all  these  factories  are  white  people,  chiefly 
girls  and  boys  from  twelve  to  twenty  years  of  age.  On  an 
average,  they  are  better  paid  and  worked  easier  than  is  usually 
the  case  in  the  North.  Country  girls  from  the  pine  forests,  as 
green  and  awkward  as  it  is  possible  to  find  them,  soon  become 
skillful  operatives,  and  ere  they  have  been  in  the  mills  a  year, 
they  are  able  to  earn  from  four  to  six  dollars  a  week.  They 
are  only  required  to  work  ten  hours  a  day.  Particular  atten 
tion  is  paid  to  the  character  of  the  operatives ;  and  in  some 
mills,  none  are  received  but  those  having  testimonials  of  good 
moral  character  and  industrious  habits.  Churches  and  Sunday- 
schools  are  also  attached  to  several  of  the  manufactories,  s<? 
that  the  religious  training  of  the  operatives  may  be  properly 
attended  to. 

LOUISIANA. 

NEW  ORLEANS,  Jan.  25,  1860. 

The  State  of  Louisiana  was  never  in  a  more  prosperous 
condition  than  now.  The  new  Governor,  Thomas  0.  Moore, 
has  just  been  sworn  into  office,  and  begins  his  administration 
under  the  most  auspicious  circumstances.  There  is  a  surplus 
of  $130,000  in  the  State  treasury.  The  critical  condition  of 
national  affairs,  precipitated  by  the  champions  of  the  "  irre 
pressible  conflict,"  seems  to  overshadow  all  differences  of  local 
politics,  and  it  is  the  universal  sentiment  that  the  South  must 
brace  itself  to  meet  the  "impending  crisis."  Virginia  and 
12 


134        HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

the  border  States  will  not  be  left  to  sustain,  unaided,  the  brunt 
of  the  battle  with  Abolitionism.  Already  a  bill  has  been  in 
troduced  into  the  State  Legislature,  appropriating  $25,000  as 
Louisiana's  quota  toward  a  fund  to  be  contributed  by  the 
Southern  States,  to  repay  to  Virginia  the  outlay  she  has  in 
curred  in  hanging  the  Brown  gang.  The  bill  will  pass,  beyond 
a  doubt.  Yery  active  measures  have  also  been  taken  to  arm 
and  orgaaize  the  militia.  It  is  now  settled  that  our  heavy 
houses  will  import  direct  from  Europe  for  the  future.  Indeed, 
the  only  wonder  is  that  they  have  not  taken  this  step  long  ago. 
The  leading  wholesale  dry  goods  dealers  are  prominent  in  the 
movement.  A  cotton  factory  on  a  very  extensive  scale  is  soon 
to  go  into  operation.  A  vessel  freighted  with  all  the  requisite 
machinery  arrived  on  Saturday,  and  is  now  discharging. 
Every  expedient  is  being  adopted  to  render  this  section,  as  far 
as  may  be,  independent  of  the  North ;  and  there  is  even  a 
project  on  foot  among  some  of  our  wealthy  and  spirited  capi 
talists  to  start  a  large  publishing  house  in  this  city — a  branch 
of  enterprise  in  which  our  people  have,  until  now,  been  sadly 
inert.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  such  a  business,  once  es 
tablished,  would  be  liberally  sustained.  Commercially  speaking, 
the  last  week  has  been  the  most  active  ever  known  here.  The 
sales  of  cotton  amounted  to  97,500  bales.  That  number  has 
never  been  equalled  here,  and  but  twice,  I  believe,  in  Liver 
pool.  A  larger  proportion  than  ever,  of  cotton,  is  this  year 
shipped  to  France.  In  a  few  years,  Havre  will  rival  Liverpool 
in  its  cotton  imports.  The  direct  cotton  trade  with  St.  Peters 
burg  is  also  rapidly  on  the  increase.  On  a  single  day  last 
week,  no  less  than  three  ships,  freighted  with  bales,  cleared  for 
Cronstadt.  It  was  believed  that  about  the  middle  of  the 
present  month  the  receipts  of  cotton  would  begin  to  slacken 
off;  but  there  are,  as  yet,  no  signs  of  a  decrease.  Shippers 
are  consequently  busy,  and  freights  continue  stiff. 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.        135 


IOWA. 

IOWA  CITY,  Jan.  27,  1860. 

The  excitement  attending  the  John  Brown  foray  is  fast  dying 
out  in  the  Northwest,  and  in  no  State  faster  than  in  Iowa. 
True,  the  same  spirit  that  gave  rise  to  the  outburst  of  public 
feeling  upon  the  occasion  of  Brown's  execution,  is  still  here, 
but  it  requires  some  sudden  blast  to  fan  it  to  a  flame.  For  the 
time  being,  Helper's  book  served  to  feed  the  morbid  abolition 
appetite  of  the  Brownites  of  Iowa,  and  the  deeds  of  the  heroic 
martyr  are  seemingly  forgotten. 

Next  to  Michigan,  Iowa  is  the  most  completely  and  thor 
oughly  abolitionized  State  in  the  Northwest ;  it  is,  therefore, 
not  surprising  that  Brown  here  found  practical  exponents  of 
Sewardism,  or  that  Helper  finds  champions  in  the  deliberative 
councils  of  the  rulers  of  the  State.  Whatever  dodges  the 
Republican  party  elsewhere  may  resort  to,  to  cover  their  par 
ticipation,  directly  or  indirectly,  with  Brown's  attack  on 
Harper's  Ferry,  or  shield  themselves  from  complicity  with  the 
circulation  of  Helper's  book,  the  Republicans  of  Iowa  feel 
themselves  strong  enough  to  throw  off  the  mask  and  boldly 
avow  their  sympathy  with  the  one  and  their  approval  of  the 
other.  A  Republican  county  convention,  held  at  Muscatine 
a  short  time  since,  passed  a  resolution  endorsing  Helper's  book 
and  recommending  its  circulation.  This  is  the  first  public 
endorsement  of  the  book  that  I  have  yet  heard  of;  but  I  have 
yet  to  meet  the  first  Republican,  here  or  elsewhere,  who  has 
read  the  book,  who  does  not  endorse  it  and  recommend  its 
circulation.  John  Sherman  may  prove  an  exception,  and 
entertain  opinions  in  regard  to  the  book  contrary  to  those  of 
the  Republican  party  generally,  but  he  is  sustained  from  day 
to  day  by  men  whose  constituents  I  know  openly  avow  their 
approval  of  the  "  Impending  Crisis,"  and  who  recommend  its 
circulation.  Large  numbers  of  the  book  are  being  sold 


136         HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

throughout  the  Northwest,  and  if  the  work  possesses  any  merit, 
its  influence  must  be  powerful 

MISSOURI. 

ST.  Louis,  Mo.,  Feb.  1,  1860. 

Politics  and  politicians  in  Missouri  are  considerably  mixed 
just  now,  and  withal  somewhat  disturbed,  arising  chiefly  from 
local  matters.  John  Brown  is  dead,  and  his  memory  has  scarce 
an  abiding  place  in  this  State,  while  "Helper's  Impending 
Crisis"  flourishes  not  at  all.  The  absence  of  two  such  power 
ful  incentives  to  inflame  the  public  mind  in  the  border  States 
necessarily  gives  the  sober  second  thought  ample  scope  for  the 
undisturbed  exercise  of  its  true  functions;  and,  as  a  sequence, 
the  public  mind  in  Missouri  is  unusually  quiet  upon  matters  of 
general  interest. 

The  excitement  attending  the  raid  upon  Harper's  Ferry  sub 
sided  with  the  death  of  John  Brown,  and  little  is  now  thought 
or  said  concerning  the  matter;  and,  although  a  border  State, 
and  exposed  upon  all  sides  to  the  forays  of  fanatics  and  aboli 
tion  outlaws,  the  people  repose  implicit  confidence  in  their 
ability  to  repel  invasion  or  suppress  insurrection,  and  pursue 
the  "even  tenor  of  their  way,"  and  pay  little  heed  to  the  howl 
of  disunion  that  rises  upon  every  side. 

A  majority  of  the  people  of  Missouri  are  undoubtedly  in 
favor  of  perpetuating  the  "peculiar  institution,"  not  from  any 
deep-seated  love  for  the  institution  itself,  but  chiefly  because  it 
is  profitable ;  and,  so  long  as  it  continues  to  be  so,  it  will  never 
be  abolished.  In  fact,  it  is  now  steadily  Increasing.  The  last 
report  of  the  Secretary  of  State  shows  an  increase  of  about 
1,200  in  the  slave  population  of  the  State  during  the  past 
year.  In  1840  the  slave  population  of  Missouri  numbered 
58,240,  and  in  1850,  87,422.  It  now  amounts  to  about  110,000. 
In  1840  the  number  of  free  blacks  in  the  State  was  1,574,  and 
in  1850  they  numbered  2,618.  They  now  number  about  3,500. 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.        137 

The  total  colored  population  of  the  State  is  therefore  less  than 
115,000,  while  the  total  white  population  cannot  fall  much,  if 
any,  below  a  million. 

The  only  fruit  of  the  Harper's  Ferry  emeule  visible  in  Mis 
souri,  is  the  act  to  abolish  free  blacks,  which  passed  the  Legis 
lature,  but  was  vetoed  by  the  Governor.  The  people  are  de 
termined,  however,  that  the  act  shall  become  a  law  in  spite  of 
the  veto,  and  the  next  Legislature  will  doubtless  pass  the  bill 
over  the  Governor's  head. 

NEW  HAMPSHIRE. 

PETERBORO,  N.  H.,  Feb.  1,  1860. 

This  is  a  part  of  the  Granite  State  in  which  the  manufactu 
rers  of  woolen  goods  have  little  to  say.  Some  of  them  went 
down  to  Boston  a  few  weeks  since,  and  purchased  a  large  amount 
of  the  raw  material  at  a  great  wool  gathering  there  had,  and 
returned  to  Peterboro  pretty  well  satisfied  with  their  bargains. 
Mr.  Joseph  Noone,  a  prominent  gentleman  in  this  part  of  New 
Hampshire,  so  far  as  the  manufacture  of  woolen  goods  and  a 
gentle  slice  of  politics  are  concerned,  is  among  the  prominent 
and  influential  citizens  of  the  place.  Peterboro  is  also  the 
residence  of  ex-Gov.  John  H.  Steele,  who,  whenever  he  speaks, 
means  something,  He  has  probably  one  of  the  strongest  minds, 
even  in  his  advanced  age,  that  exists  in  New  Hampshire.  He 
keeps  the  run  of  politics  nationally,  and  was  never  known  to 
falter  in  the  true  national  line.  With  such  men  it  is  a  pleasure 
to  talk.  Every  word  they  utter  is  a  word  of  wisdom,  and 
should  be  treasured  as  such  by  the  rising  men  of  this  genera 
tion.  Suppose  we  put  a  question  to  him. 

Ques.  What  do  the  Republicans  in  your  locality  say  about 
the  John  Brown  affair  ? 

Ans.  (And  we  give  the  venerable  old  gentleman's  words  in 
full.)     They  now  say  that  Brown  was  a  monomaniac,  demented, 
insane,  crazy ;  but  when  the  news  first  came  that  Brown  had 
12* 


138         HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

invaded  Virginia,  captured  the  United  States  arsenal,  armory, 
&c.,  the  joy  of  many  of  them  was  illy  concealed.  Not  a  word 
was  heard  from  any  of  them  condemning,  or  even  censuring 
him  or  his  motives.  On  the  contrary,  there  was  not  a  little 
crowing  and  even  exultation  over  the  presumed  cowardice  of 
the  Virginians.  But  as  the  facts  became  more  and  more 
known,  and  the  motives  better  understood,  those  of  the  honest 
rank  and  file  began  to  censure  Brown,  and  now  and  then  one 
expressed  the  opinion  that  Brown  deserved  the  fate  which 
evidently  awaited  him. 

Q.  But  what  did  the  leaders  of  the  Black  Republicans  do  ? 

A.  The  leaders,  or  would-be  leaders,  were  constantly  invent 
ing  or  propagating  fallacious  excuses  for  Brown's  conduct ;  and 
now  and  then  one  dared  Virginia  to  enforce  her  laws — openly 
boasting  that  if  she  did,  there  would  be  increased  converts  to 
abolitionism. 

Q.  What  did  the  Democrats  do,  then  ? 

A.  The  Democrats  accused  them  of  being  accessory,  either 
before  or  after  the  invasion,  and  of  aiding  and  abetting  treason, 
murder,  arson  and  servile  war. 

Q.  What  was  their  answer  ? 

A.  They  in  a  measure  shrank  from  the  gulf  which  they  had 
for  years  been  so  industriously  and  recklessly  digging.  It  was 
then,  and  not  till  then,  that  we  heard  the  stereotype  plea  of 
insanity.  Not  one  word  of  hearty  condemnation  of  the  deed, 
but  a  manifest  feverish  desire  to  smooth  the  matter  over,  to 
hush  it  up. 

Q.  What  do  the  Republicans  now  say  ? 

A.  Now  they  are  the  most  open-mouthed  brawlers  for  State 
rights  ;  for  not  meddling  with  slavery  in  the  States  where  it 
exists.  Oh,  no  !  they  are  for  living  up  to  the  requirements  of 
the  Constitution. — all  except  the  stealing  of  negroes,  and  the 
rendition  of  slaves. 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.        139 

Q.  Do  you  think  that  the  Republicans  are  sincere  in  con 
demning  Brown  and  his  acts  ? 

A.  I  am  satisfied  that  many,  not  all,  of  the  Republicans 
regret  that  Brown  did  not  succeed ;  and  that  every  word  of 
condemnation  which  we  occasionally  hear  from  such  men  is 
only  from  the  lips  outward. 

Q.  In  your  opinion,  what  will  be  the  effect  of  the  John 
Brown  foray  ? 

A.  But  one  of  two  things  may  be  safely  predicted,  namely, 
that  the  Southern  people  possess  much  more  of  the  genuine 
principles  of  religion  than  do  their  calumniators  and  persecutors, 
thereby  prompting  them  to  forgive  their  enemies,  and  to  do 
good  to  those  who  spitefully  use  them,  or  they  will,  as  far  as 
possible,  cease  to  trade  or  buy  from  those  who  lose  no  opportu 
nity  to  abuse  them,  and  even  steal  their  property. 

Q.  Suppose  that  course  should  widen  the  breach  which  now 
exists  between  the  North  and  the  South  ? 

A.  For  one  I  should  be  loth  to  countenance,  much  less  to 
recommend,  a  course  by  the  South  which  would  widen  the 
breach  that  now  so  needlessly  and  unjustifiably  exists  between 
the  North  and  the  South.  But  is  it  reasonable  even  to  hope 
that  the  state  of  things  now  existing  should  much  longer  exist, 
without  the  South  entering  into  combinations  to  prevent  all 
trade,  and  even  intercourse,  between  the  South  and  North  ? 

Reporter — The  Northern  people  consider  themselves  so 
powerful  that  the  idea  of  a  Southern  confederacy  is  deemed 
preposterous  by  them. 

Oov.  Steele — I  am  well  aware  that  so  infatuated,  so  self- 
sufficient,  has  a  large  portion  of  the  Northern  people  become, 
that  they  think  and  often  express  their  belief  that  the  South 
are  much,  if  not  entirely,  dependent  on  the  North  even  for  a 
living.  Nothing  could  be  further  from  the  facts  ;  for  while  no 
reasonable  man  can  doubt  the  fact  that  while  there  is  a  just» 


140          HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

and  manly  intercourse  between  the  North  and  South,  they  are 
mutually  beneficial  to  each  other,  let  me  ask,  what  is  it  that 
the  South  receives  from  the  North  which  they  cannot  procure 
elsewhere  ?  Nothing,  literally  nothing.  There  is  nothing  I 
can  now  think  of  which  the  South  receives  from  the  North  that 
cannot,  and  that,  too,  without  much  inconvenience,  be  obtained 
elsewhere  ;  while,  on  the  contrary,  what  does  the  North  receive 
from  the  South,  which  she  can  well  do  without  ?  It  is  need 
less  to  name  more  than  one  single  article — cotton.  Ask  our 
numerous  cotton  manufacturers  where  they  would  procure  their 
cotton,  if  not  from  the  South  ? 

Q.  But  suppose  cotton  should  be  raised  elsewhere  ? 

A.  If  the  North  should  ask  that  question,  the  answer  is 
readily  at  hand.  Where  is  it  or  can  it  be  had  without  slave 
labor  so  cheaply  and  in  such  quantities,  and  with  such  facili 
ties,  as  from  the  South  ?  One  of  the  main  fabrics  that  com 
prises  the  major  part  of  the  material  which  serves  as  garments 
for  man,  woman,  child,  and  creatures  of  lesser  dignity — which 
enters  into  almost  every  description  of  domestic  cloth  for 
domestic  use — is  more  or  less  composed  of  cotton.  Abolish 
free  trade  in  cotton,  and  you  will  abolish  our  Northern  cotton 
manufactories. 

Q.  Are  there  no  other  enterprises  in  which  the  North  are 
interested  that  would  be  injured  by  a  separation  of  the  North 
and  the  South  ? 

A.  Yes.  Turn  to  our  shipowners.  Ask  them  where  thej 
are  to  obtain  their  outward-bound  freight  for  Europe,  if  they 
cannot  get  the  cotton,  rice,  tobacco,  &c.,  of  the  South  ?  In 
short,  the  article  of  cotton  is  of  equal,  if  not  of  more,  impor 
tance  to  the  North  than  to  the  South.  By  its  use  thousands 
of  our  population  are  fed  and  clothed,  and  through  its  agency 
the  Northern  commerce  is  not  only  sustained,  but  an  advan 
tage  gained  which  enables  our  shipping  interest  to  compete 
with  the  world. 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.          141 

The  above  are  some  of  the  views  of  the  clear-headed  Gover 
nor  Steele  in  regard  to  some  of  the  questions  now  pending — 
nationally.  They  are  as  well  worthy  of  consideration  as  those 
of  the  lamented  Silas  Wright,  of  your  State. 

The  people  here  feel  that  the  national  men  will  make  large 
gains  in  the  March  election.  The  democrats  are  quite  confi 
dent.  One  indication  of  a  change  in  the  sentiment  of  the 
people  is  that  some  of  them  have  stopped  the  New  York  Tri 
bune  and  are  now  taking  the  New  York  Herald  and  other 
liberal  and  intelligent  papers,  not  excepting  the  democratic 
journals  of  the  State. 

Another  word  from  a  friend  in  this  goodly  town  : — Straws 
show  which  way  the  wind  blows.  Every  thing  is  working  well. 
John  Brown's  illustration  of  Black  Republicanism  is  not  accep 
table  to  some  of  the  party  here.  He  was  their  last  and  best 
trump,  and  the  only  man  amongst  them  who  had  the  courage  to 
play  their  black  disunion  game — and  he  played  it  out  for  them. 
If  it  had  not  been  for  John  Browji  and  the  Helper  atrocity,  we 
should  have  had  the  abolitionist  Sherman,  Speaker  of  the  House 
before  this. 

GEORGIA. 

SAVANNAH,  Jan.  31,  1860. 

Yesterday  I  paid  a  visit  to  the  rice  plantation  of  Mr.  S., 
)n  the  Savannah  river,  a  few  miles  above  the  city,  and  had  the 
pleasure  of  being  "  toted  "  all  over  the  place,  and  seeing  a  little 
negro  life  in  Georgia.  This  part  of  the  country  is  noted  for 
the  number  and  fertility  of  its  rice  plantations,  the  river  here 
affording  the  planters  excellent  irrigation,  besides  being  so 
convenient  for  transporting  the  crop  to  market.  Mr.  S.  had 
about  250  acres  under  cultivation,  which  yield  him  a  crop  of 
about  7,000  bushels  annually.  When  I  arrived  at  the  place  a 
number  of  the  negroes  were  engaged  in  burning  the  brush  on 


142  HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

some  unimproved  lands  near  by,  preparatory  to  planting,  ana 
what  now  appears  to  be  a  good  for  nothing  looking  waste,  will, 
in  the  course  of  a  few  short  months,  be  converted  into  a  valu 
able  estate.  The  workmen  all  appeared  happy  and  contented, 
and  were  as  comfortably  clothed  as  you  would  wish  to  see 
them. 

A  short  walk  brought  us  to  the  "settlement,"  or  habitations 
of  the  slaves,  which  were  constructed  in  the  usual  manner,  of 
pine  boards  neatly  whitewashed,  and  elevated  on  piles  some 
three  or  four  feet  above  the  surface  of  the  ground.  Near  by 
was  the  overseer's  house,  the  barn,  workshop,  and  a  number  of 
outhouses,  all  forming  quite  a  little  village.  Upon  inquiring 
how  much  food  it  took  to  bring  the  negroes  to  such  a  state  of 
perfection,  Mr.  S.  informed  me  that  the  allowance  per  head 
was  3i  Ibs.  of  bacon  a  week,  and  as  much  bread  and  vegetables 
as  they  could  eat.  Occasionally  a  little  molasses  was  added  to 
the  regular  fare,  and  in  the  summer  time  they  were  freely  sup 
plied  with  milk.  The  fatter  the  bacon  the  more  the  negroes 
enjoyed  it,  and  this  was  the  case  especially  when  there  was 
much  hard  work  to  be  done.  It  was  the  overseer's  business  to 
see  that  the  cooking,  was  properly  done,  and  that  the  kitchen 
utensils  were  kept  clean.  The  negroes  were  furnished  with 
three  suits  of  clothing  every  year,  but  frequently  the  children 
were  obliged  to  have  four.  Each  family  was  supplied  with 
comfortable  beds  and  bedding,  and  every  inducement  was  held 
out  to  Sambo  to  abandon  a  weakness  he  has  for  sleeping  on  the 
bare  floor.  "  It  is  a  most  difficult  thing,"  said  Mr.  S.,  "to 
teach  the  negro  the  value  and  comfort  of  a  good  bed.  Give 
him  the  bare  floor  and  a  wood  fire  to  half  toast  his  head,  and 
he  prefers  it  to  the  softest  couch." 

I  noticed  that  there  were  no  gardens  attached  to  the  cabins, 
and  on  asking  the  reason  for  their  absence,  Mr.  S.  replied  that 
he  was  opposed  to  the  system  adopted  on  most  plantations  of 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.         143 

giving  the  negroes  little  patches  to  cultivate,  on  the  ground 
that  it  tended  to  bring  the  slaves  in  connection  with  traders, 
who  would  supply  them  with  liquor,  and  entice  them  to  commit 
petty  thefts  and  do  all  manner  of  wickedness.  He  preferred 
giving  them  a  present  of  five  or  ten  dollars  each  at  Christmas 
rather  than  put  up  with  the  annoyance. 

He  had  little  trouble,  he  said,  with  the  negroes,  as  far  as 
sickness  was  concerned,  the  health  of  the  entire  settlement 
being  excellent  from  one  end  of  the  year  to  the  other.  As  for 
whipping,  he  seldom  resorted  to  that  mode  of  correction.  The 
greatest  punishment  he  could  inflict  upon  an  offender  was  to 
threaten  him  with  New  Orleans.  The  sugar  plantations  of 
Louisiana  were  terrible  places  in  the  estimation  of  his  negroes, 
and  the  slightest  threat  to  send  any  of  them  thither  was  far 
more  effectual  in  securing  obedience  and  respect  than  treating 
them  to  the  lash.  At  noon  he  allows  all  his  negroes  to  rest 
from  half  an  hour  to  three  hours,  according  to  the  season  of 
the  year.  In  spring  time,  for  instance,  when  there  is  generally 
a  good  deal  of  heavy  work  to  be  performed,  they  were  allowed 
only  sufficient  time  to  eat  their  dinners  ;  but  as  the  days  grew 
longer,  and  the  heat  of  the  sun  began  to  be  oppressive,  the 
resting  spell  was  was  extended.  In  midsummer,  when  the 
heat  is  intense,  the  slaves  were  allowed  three  hours  to  rest, 
and  an  opportunity  was  afforded,  them  to  take  a  nap,  which  is 
found  to  be  very  refreshing  and  beneficial  to  the  laborers, 
especially  where  the  work  js  heavy.  While  engaged  in  the 
field  they  are  supplied  with  fresh  drinking  water  by  one  or  two 
children  appointed  for  that  purpose,  and  on  extra  occasions 
they  are  treated  to  milk.  When  the  day's  work  is  done,  some 
one  in  the  gang  strikes  up  a  lively  song,  and  they  all  proceed 
to  their  homes  apparently  as  fresh  and  hearty  as  when  they 
arose  in  the  morning.  Two  or  three  times  a  month  they  get  up  a 
dance,  and  go  through  a  cotilion  and  a  reel  as  correctly  as  the 


144         HELPERS  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

white  folks  at  the  North.  There  are  always  two  or  three 
musicians  in  the  settlement,  whose  powers  on  the  violin  and 
banjo  give  them  quite  a  position,  and  next  to  the  preacher, 
perhaps  they  are  the  most  respected  and  admired  among  their 
fellow  workmen. 

The  modus  operandi  of  converting  wild  swamp  lands  into 
fertile  rice  fields  is  certainly  an  interesting  one,  and  deserves  a 
brief  notice  at  the  hands  of  your  correspondent.  The  work  of 
digging  canals,  throwing  up  embankments  and  removing 
stumps  having  been  performed,  the  negroes  commence  "chop 
ping"  or  digging  the  soil.  After  "chopping"  they  proceed  to 
"mashing"  or  levelling  the  clods  of  earth,  and  that  work 
done,  the  rice  is  sown  in  rows  about  thirteen  inches  apart. 
Planting  commences  from  the  20th  of  March  to  the  1st  of 
April.  The  seed  is  covered  over  with  a  thin  coat  of  earth,  and 
at  the  next  flood  tide  the  water  is  admitted  through  the  trunk, 
as  it  is  called,  and  the  field  is  slowly  submerged.  The  floating 
weeds,  etc.,  are  then  raked  from  the  surface,  and  being  placed 
on  the  embankment  are  there  dried  and  burned.  The  water  is 
allowed  to  remain  on  the  field  until  the  seed  begins  to  shoot, 
generally  from  four  to  five  days,  and  is  then  drained  off.  This 
is  called  the  "sprout  flow."  After  the  plants  appear  above  the 
ground  about  an  inch  or  so,  the  water  is  let  on  again  and 
allowed  to  remain  on  for  from  three  to  seven  days.  The  plants 
by  this  time  attain  a  height  of  three  or  four  inches,  and  then  the 
water  is  drained  off.  .This  is  called  the  "point  flow."  The 
field  is  then  allowed  to  remain  dry  until  the  plants  are  strong 
enough  to  bear  hoeing,  and  the  first  and  second  hoeings  having 
been  gone  through  with,  the  field  is  again  flooded.  This  is 
called  the  "long  flow."  Mr.  S.  says  he  allows  the  water  at 
this  stage  to  rise  high  above  the  rice,  so  as  to  prevent  the 
floating  weeds  from  entangling  in  the  plants.  The  weeds 
having  been  all  brought  ashore,  the  water  is  gradually  lowered 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.         145 

until  the  tops  of  the  plants  appear  above  the  surface.  The 
water  is  kept  stationary  at  this  point  from  ten  to  twenty  days, 
according  to  the  quality  of  the  soil,  and  is  then  drawn  off. 
The  field  is  then  allowed  to  dry,  and  then  follows  the  third  and 
fourth  hoeings,  care  being  taken  to  remove  the  weeds  and  vol 
unteer  rice.  The  water  is  then  let  on  for  the  fourth  time,  and 
allowed  to  remain  on  until  the  rice  is  headed  and  the  blossoms 
fall. 

The  harvest  generally  commences  about  the  first  week  in 
September.  When  the  reaping  is  determined  upon,  the  water 
is  all  drawn  off,  and  the  following  day  the  negroes  enter  the 
field  with  sickles,  and  in  one  day  the  crop  is  reaped  and  placed  in 
little  heaps  upon  the  stubble.  The  next  day  the  rice  is  tied  up 
in  sheaves  and  removed  to  the  barn.  The  usual  mode  of  trans 
porting  it  from  the  field  to  the  barn  is  upon  the  heads  of  the 
negroes ;  but  in  some  plantations  it  is  conveyed  along  the  em 
bankments  in  trucks  contrived  for  the  purpose.  The  harvest 
ing  of  rice  is  excessively  hard  labor ;  even  the  negroes  some 
times  sink  under  it.  As  for  white  men  performing  the  task,  it 
is  out  of  the  question  ;  the  thing  is  physically  impossible.  The 
work  of  threshing  is  pursued  at  leisure,  but  harvesting  is  the 
work  of  forty-eight  hours,  and  must  be  completed  within  that 
time,  no  matter  how  intense  may  be  the  heat  of  the  sun  or  sul 
try  the  weather.  The  yield  varies  according  to  the  quality  of 
the  soil  from  800  to  1,500  pounds  of  rice  to  the  acre.  The 
land  is  held  very  high,  some  plantations  being  worth  as  much  as 
$200  an  acre.  The  rice  raised  in  this  section  of  the  country  is 
acknowledged  to  be  a  very  superior  article,  and  commands  the 
highest  price  in  the  market. 

Planting  in  the  open  trench  is  a  plan  extensively  pursued  of 
late  years,  and  the  system  has  been  found  to  work  very  well  in 
some  localities.  The  difference  between  planting  in  the  open 
trench  and  planting  in  the  manner  previously  described,  consists 
in  "claying"  the  seed  and  merging  the  "sprout"  and  the  "point" 
13 


146         HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

flows  into  one.  Water  thickened  with  clay  is  poured  upon  the 
seed  until  each  grain  receives  a  coating  sufficient  to  prevent  it 
from  floating  when  the  field  is  flooded.  "  Claying"  answers  all 
the  purpose  of  covering  the  seed  over  with  earth,  and  when  the 
grain  is  sown  in  that  way  all  the  negroes  have  to  do  is  to  let  on 
the  water,  and  in  ten  or  thirty  days  thereafter  the  seed  begins  to 
sprout.  The  water  is  kept  on  until  the  plants  are  one  and  a 
half  to  two  inches  high.  The  subsequent  treatment  is  precise 
ly  similar  to  the  other  mode.  The  open  trench  plan  has  its 
advantages  and  disadvantages — its  advantages  in  the  saving  of 
labor,  protecting  the  rice  from  the  depredations  of  birds  and 
the  injurious  effects  of  freshets ;  and  its  disadvantages  in 
promoting  the  growth  of  water  grass,  injuring  the  ditches,  and 
washing  away  the  embankments.  The  greatest  enemies  to 
the  rice  planter  are  the  "  freshes"  and  the  "  salts."  In  the  one 
case  from  the  great  height  of  water  in  the  river  the  planter  is 
unable  to  drain  his  field  properly,  and  in  the  other,  from  the 
stream  being  too  low,  the  water  from  the  ocean,  which  is 
poisonous  to  the  cereal,  finds  its  way  up  to  the  plantations,  and 
thus  suspends  all  flooding  operations.  Either  of  these  disas 
ters  happening  at  a  critical  period,  causes  great  loss  and 
anxiety  of  mind  to  the  planter. 

Rice  plantations  are  proverbial  for  their  unhealthiness  in  the 
summer  season.  The  owners  seldom,  if  ever,  reside  upon  them, 
but  leave  them  in  charge  of  overseers,  who  being  acclimated  to 
the  soil,  are  alone  able  to  withstand  the  deadly  effects  of  the 
miasma.  To  be  caught  upon  a  rice  plantation  after  nightfall 
is  almost  certain  death  to  the  unacclimated  white  man,  but  the 
negro  passes  through  the  ordeal  unscathed.  It  seems  as  though 
Divine  power  had  created  the  African  especially  to  withstand 
the  deadly  atmosphere  so  peculiar  to  rice  and  cotton  plantations, 
for  without  the  physical  qualifications  afforded  us  in  the  negro, 
it  would  be  impossible  to  successfully  cultivate  either  of  these 
great  staples.  Can  it  be  reasonably  supposed  that  the  most 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.         147 

fertile  and  valuable  soil  in  the  Southern  States  was  never  inten 
ded  for  cultivation  ?  Certainly  not  ;  these  productive  but 
pestilential  lands,  so  eminently  adapted  for  the  growth  of  cotton 
and  rice,  were  evidently  intended  by  the  Creator  for  the  very 
purpose  for  which  they  are  now  used  ;  and  the  white  man 
could  never  have  developed  the  boundless  resources  of  those 
regions  if  by  a  dispensation  of  Providence  he  had  not  been 
blessed  with  negro  slaves. 

In  my  next  letter  I  will  give  you  an  idea  of  how  the  slavery 
system  works  in  the  cities,  and  the  condition  of  the  negro  in 
hotels,  dwelling-houses  and  manufactories. 

In  most  of  the  Southern  cities,  the  negro  men  have  a  singu 
lar  fancy  for  marrying  wenches  older  than  themselves.  Cooks 
and  washerwomen,  old  enough  to  be  their  mothers,  are  in  their 
eyes  the  most  suitable  kind  of  wives,  and  are  eagerly  sought 
after.  Negresses  never  despair  of  getting  married  in  this 
country  until  after  they  have  become  aged  enough  to  be  grand 
mothers,  so  great  and  growing  is  the  demand  for  old  wives. 
Then  there  is  an  aristocracy  in  every  city,  and  "  sets"  as  nume 
rous  as  among  white  people.  The  negroes  of  the  millionaire 
seldom,  if  ever,  associate  or  intermarry  with  the  negroes  of  a 
man  in  humble  circumstances,  and  if  there  is  a  party  to  be 
given,  the  poor  white  man's  niggers  are  sure  not  to  receive  an 
invitation,  so  extremely  select  do  they  desire  to  keep  the  circle. 
Some  of  these  parties,  I  am  assured,  are  brilliant  affairs,  and 
incredible  sums  are  spent  in  dress,  jewelry,  and  the  purchase 
of  refreshments  and  delicacies  of  all  kinds. 

Negro  churches  and  benevolent  societies  are  common  in 
every  town.  In  Macon,  there  is  a  Baptist  church  which  is 
attended  regularly  every  Sunday  by  a  congregation  of  over 
1,500  persons.  The  preacher  was  formerly  a  slave,  but  his 
congregation  purchased  his  freedom,  bought  him  a  house  and 
gave  him  a  salary  of  $800  per  annum,  all  of  which  he  now 
enjoys.  The  reverend  gentleman  is  represented  as  a  very  in- 


148        HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

telligent  person,  and  is  held  in  high  estimation  by  the  white 
residents  of  the  city.  A  capital  anecdote  is  told  of  old 
Barney,  a  negro  servant  belonging  to  the  estate  of  Geo.  Har- 
graves,  in  this  city.  Barney,  it  appears,  accompanied  his 
master  to  London  and  Paris  on  one  occasion,  in  the  capacity 
of  body  servant.  Mr.  Hargraves  was  an  invalid,  and  having 
had  one  of  his  legs  amputated,  was  obliged  to  take  Barney 
with  him  everywhere  he  went.  During  their  stay  at  London, 
a  number  of  abolitionists  hearing  that  Barney  was  a  slave, 
took  occasion  to  impress  upon  the  mind  of  the  negro  the 
absurdity  of  his  accompanying  Mr.  Hargraves  back  to  the 
United  States. 

"Well,  what  will  you  do  for  me,"  inquires  Barney,  "if  I 
stay  with  you  ?" 

"Why,. we  will  get  you  employment  at  a  shilling  a  day,  and 
you  will  have  your  liberty.  Think  of  that  I" 

"No,"  said  Barney,  with  a  shake  of  the  head.  "I  guess  it 
wouldn't  pay.  You  see,  I  am  just  as  well  off  as  my  master. 
I  eat  as  good  food  as  he  eats,  dress  about  as  well,  and  have 
plenty  of  money ;  and  what  do  you  think  I  do  for  all  that  ? 
Why,  black  one  boot." 

The  abolitionists  found  they  could  not  make  a  convert  of 
Barney,  and  left  him  in  disgust.  Barney  is  still  alive,  and 
enjoys  a  handsome  annuity  left  him  by  his  old  master. 

The  free  negroes  in  this  State  number  about  4,000.  As 
a  general  thing,  they  are  a  steady,  sober,  and  industrious 
people,  and  strong  advocates  of  the  slavery  system.  One  of 
them,  a  fellow  named  Joe  Clark,  residing  in  this  city,  is  him 
self  the  owner  of  some  ten  or  twelve  slaves,  whom  he  employs 
upon  a  cotton  plantation.  Another,  named  Isham  Cooper, 
keeper  of  a  bar-room,  is  estimated  to  be  worth  over  $30,000 ; 
and  I  heard  of  a  third  one  who  now  supports  the  family  of 
his  former  master.  He  was  manumitted  several  years  ago,  it 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.         149 

appears,  and  made  quite  a  competence  by  bridge  building. 
Since  then,  his  former  master  has  been  several  times  indebted 
to  him  for  various  amounts,  exceeding  in  the  aggregate,  pro 
bably,  some  three  or  four  thousand  dollars.  Arid  even  now, 
as  I  said  before,  he  is  the  main  contributor  to  the  support  of 
a  white  man's  family.  These  negroes  are  highly  respected  by 
the  white  population,  and  any  injury  or  wrong  practiced  upon 
them,  would  entail  as  sure  and  speedy  punishment  to  the 
offender,  as  though  the  most  respectable  slaveholders  were  the 
aggrieved  parties. 

Yesterday,  I  saw  two  of  the  Africans  who  were  brought 
over  in  the  yacht  Wanderer,  and  fine,  intelligent-looking  fel 
lows  they  are,  too.  One  of  them  is  named  Miugo,  and  the 
other,  George.  They  are  employed  in  a  livery  stable  in  Ogle- 
thorpe  street,  and  make  good  hostlers.  George  has  charge  of 
twelve  horses,  and  promises  to  be  a  smart  and  capable  slave. 
They  talk  tolerably  good  English,  and  display  wonderful  cute- 
ness  for  boys  of  16  years  of  age.  They  are  similar  in  appear 
ance  to  the  other  negroes  about  the  place,  and  display  none,  of 
those  savage  traits  of  character  that  one  might  be  led  to 
expect,  considering  they  were  so  recently  imported.  I  under 
stand  there  are  a  number  of  other  Africans,  brought  over  by 
the  same  vessel,  on  a  plantation  not  far  from  this  city,  and 
that  their  owner  calculates  on  making  them  excellent  field 
hands.  Certainly,  the  specimens  I  saw  yesterday  were  very 
promising  youths. 

From  the  correspondence  of  the  N.  Y.  Herald  it  will 
be  perceived  that  the  free  laborers  in  the  North  are  not  a 
bit  better  off  than  the  slaves  in  the  South,  $4  per  week 
being  the  average  wages  earned  by  the  Northern  mechanics. 

We  now  return  to  Mr.  Helper  again.     He  says : — 
13* 


150        HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

"In  this  extraordinary  crisis  of  affairs,  no  man  can  be  a 
true  patriot  without  first  becoming  an  Abolitionist.  (A  Free- 
soiler  is  only  a  tadpole  in  an  advanced  state  of  transforma 
tion  ;  an  Abolitionist  is  the  full  and  perfectly  developed 

frog.)"     P.  H6. 

Mr.  Helper  only  states  above  what  we  have  asserted  in 
the  beginning  of  this  work,  that  the  "Black  Republicans" 
have  .passed  the  stage  of  "transformation,"  and  are  now 
Abolitionists  in  full  communion ;  for  the  Republican  mem 
bers  of  Congress  endorsed  the  above  when  they  endorsed 
the  book.  And  they  have  never  since  repudiated  it,  and 
still  stand  by  it,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  following  letter:  — 

"  WASHINGTON  CITY,  FEB.  5,  1860. 
"  To  the  Editor  of  the  Ashtabula  Sentinel: 

"  Our  friends  at  home  should  be  slow  to  censure  their 
representatives  for  deserting  Mr.  Sherman.  They  did  so 
for  the  purpose  of  electing  a  speaker,  and  defeating  a  party 
that  has  long  wielded  the  federal  power  to  the  support  of 
slavery.  They  felt  the  humiliation  of  discarding  a  candidate 
because  he  had  endorsed  the  doctrine  of  Helper's  book, 
every  sentence  of  which  finds  a  response  in  the  hearts  of 
all  true  Republicans.  JOSHUA  R.  GIDDINGS." 

There — let  it  no  longer  be  said  "  that  Republicans  repu- 
pudiate  Helper."  The  prophet  has  spoken. 

Mr.  Helper  also  goes  on  to  show  the  high  price  that 
Northern  lands  sell,  and  the  low  price  Southern  lands  sell 
for,  and  ascribes  the  low  prices  of  Southern  lands  to  the 
"  institution"  of  slavery. 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.        151 

A  writer  in  the  Southern  Cultivator  makes  the  follow 
ing  references  to  this  important  subject. 

"  There  are  four  causes  of  exhaustion  to  our  soils,  and, 
consequently,  of  lessening  their  value,  viz. : 

1st.  Our  long,  hot  summers. 

2nd.  Our  heavy,  washing  rains  of  winter. 

3rd.  The  things  cultivated. 

4th.  The  mode  of  cultivation. 

The  first  three  of  these  causes  are  governed  by  the  laws 
of  nature :  consequently,  the  institution  of  "  African 
slavery"  cannot  change  them.  As  to  the  fourth,  our  ob 
servation  has  shown  us  that,  in  the  thinly  or  newly  settled 
free  States,  the  mode  of  cultivation  is  as  impoverishing, — 
in  Indiana,  Illinois,  Iowa,  etc. — as  it  is  in  the  slave  States. 
It  is  population  that  gives  value  to  land ;  and  our  popula 
tion  has  received  its  great  augmentation  from  foreign  im 
migration,  which  has  mostly  landed  on  New  England  or 
free  State  shores,  and  have  taken  their  bias  and  direction 
from  those  whom  they  first  came  in  contact  with :  conse 
quently,  the  majority  of  this  great  influx  of  population, — 
having  left  a  land  of  tyranny  and  oppression, — are  easily 
prejudiced  against  the  Southern  States,  which  are  repre 
sented  as  being  a  land  of  slavery, — which  is  inimical  to 
their  interest ;  therefore  they  settle  down  in  the  Northern 
or  non-slaveholding  States,  thus  swelling  population,  which 
increases  the  demand  for  land,  and  that,  as  a  reasonable 
cause,  increases  its  value.  Lands  adjacent  to  the  cities 
of  Baltimore,  Md.,  and  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  and  New  Orleans, 


152         HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

La.,  all  of  which  have  slaves,  sell  for  as  high  prices,  in 
proportion  to  their  population,  as  the  land  near  Boston, 
New  York,  Philadelphia  or  Cincinnati ;  conclusively  show 
ing  that  it  is  population,  and  not  the  peculiar  institution 
of  slavery,  that  governs  the  prices  of  land. 

That  population  increases  more  rapidly  at  the  North 
and  in  the  non-slaveholding  States,  is  a  fact  which  we  do 
not  pretend  to  deny ;  yet,  we  claim  that  undue  advantages 
are  taken,  and  misrepresentations  made,  to  produce  it. 

Aid  Immigrant  Agencies  have  been  vigilant  at  the 
North,  for  the  double  purpose  of  extorting  money  from 
the  foreign  emigrant,  and,  also,  to  inoculate  them  with 
abolitionism,  and  prejudice  them  against  the  South  and 
her  institutions.  This  is  the  true  cause  why  the  South  has 
not  increased  more  rapidly  in  her  population ;  and,  as  a 
consequence,  the  low  price  of  her  lands, — if,  indeed,  there 
really  does  exist  any  very  great  disparity  in  the  price  of 
land  North  and  South,  when  you  come  to  a  general  com 
parison  of  valuation. 


CHAPTER    VII. 

The  Declaration  of  Independence  quoted  to  prove  the  Negro  was 
not  Born,  "  Created  Free  and  Equal,"  with  the  White  Man— Judge 
Taney's  Decision  in  the  Dred  Scott  Case  quoted  to  prove  the 
Author's  assertions. 

MR.  HELPER  quotes  the  "Declaration  of  Independence" 
to  substantiate  his  asseration  that  the  negro  was  "  created 
free  and  equal  with  the  white  man.  In  reply  to  this,  we 
will  only  quote  what  Chief  Justice  Taney  says,  in  his 
opinion  on  the  "Dred  Scott  Decision,"  to  be  found  on 
pages  15,  16  and  17  of  the  printed  opinions  by  Congress. 
Says  Judge  Taney  : 

The  language  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  is  conclu 
sive. 

It  begins  by  declaring  that,  "when  in  the  course  of  human 
events  it  becomes  necessary  for  one  people  to  dissolve  the  po 
litical  bands  which  have  connected  them  with  another,  and  to 
assume  among  the  powers  of  the  earth  the  separate  and  equal 
station  to  which  the  laws  of  nature  and  nature's  God  entitle  them, 
a  decent  respect  for  the  opinions  of  mankind  requires  that  they 
should  declare  the  causes  which  impel  them  to  the  separation." 

It  then  proceeds  to  say :  "We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self- 
evident  :  that  all  men  are  created  equal ;  that  they  are  endowed 
by  their  Creator  with  certain  unnlienable  rights;  that  among 
them  is  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness;  that  to  se- 

(153) 


154 

cure  these  rights,  governments  are  instituted,  deriving  their 
just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed." 

The  general  words  above  quoted  would  seem  to  embrace  the 
whole  human  family,  and  if  they  were  used  in  a  similar  instru 
ment  at  this  day,  would  be  so  understood.  But  it  is  too  clear 
for  dispute,  that  the  enslaved  African  race  were  not  intended 
to  be  included,  and  formed  no  part  of  the  people  who  framed 
and  adopted  this  declaration  ;  for  if  the  language,  as  understood 
in  that  day,  would  embrace  them,  the  conduct  of  the  distin 
guished  men  who  framed  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
would  have  been  utterly  and  flagrantly  inconsistent  with  the 
principles  they  asserted  ;  and  instead  of  the  sympathy  of  man 
kind,  to  which  they  so  confidently  appealed,  they  would  have 
deserved  and  received  universal  rebuke  and  reprobation. 

Yet  the  men  who  framed  this  declaration  were  great  men — 
high  in  literary  acquirements — high  in  their  sense  of  honor, 
and  incapable  of  asserting  principles  inconsistent  with  those  on 
which  they  were  acting.  They  perfectly  understood  the  mean 
ing  of  the  language  they  used,  and  how  it  would  be  understood 
by  others  ;  and  they  knew  that  it  would  not  in  any  part  of  the 
civilized  world  be  supposed  to  embrace  the  negro  race,  which, 
by  common  consent,  had  been  excluded  from  civilized  govern 
ments  and  the  family  of  nations,  and  doomed  to  slavery. 
They  spoke  and  acted  according  to  the  then  established  doc 
trines  and  principles,  and  in  the  ordinary  language  of  the  day, 
and  no  one  misunderstood  them.  The  unhappy  black  race 
were  separated  from  the  white  by  indellible  marks  and  laws 
long  before  established,  and  were  never  thought  of  or  spoken 
of  except  as  property,  and  when  the  claims  of  the  owner  or  the 
profit  of  the  trader  were  supposed  to  need  protection. 

This  state  of  public  opinion  had  undergone  no  change  when 
the  Constitution  was  adopted,  as  is  equally  evident  from  its 
provisions  and  language. 

The  brief  preamble  sets  forth  by  whom  it  was  formed,  for 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.         156 

what  purposes,  and  for  whose  benefit  and  protection.  It  de 
clares  that  it  is  formed  by  the  people  of  the  United  States ; 
that  is  to  say,  by  those  who  were  members  of  the  different  po 
litical  communities  in  the  several  States  ;  and  its  great  object 
is  declared  to  be  to  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to  them 
selves  arid  their  posterity.  It  speaks  in  general  terms  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  and  of  citizens  of  the.  several 
States,  when  it  is  providing  for  the  exercise  of  the  powers 
granted  or  the  privileges  secured  to  the  citizen.  It  does  not 
define  what  description  of  persons  are  intended  to  be  included 
under  these  terms,  or  who  shall  be  regarded  as  a  citizen  arid  one 
of  the  people.  It  uses  them  as  terms  so  well  understood,  that 
no  further  description  or  definition  was  necessary. 

But  there  are  two  clauses  in  the  Constitution  which  point 
directly  and  specifically  to  the  negro  race  as  a  separate  class 
of  persons,  and  show  clearly  that  they  were  not  regarded  as  a 
portion  of  the  people  or  citizens  of  the  Government  then 
formed. 

One  of  these  clauses  reserves  to  each  of  the  thirteen  States 
the  right  to  import  slaves  until  the  year  1808,  if  it  thinks 
proper.  And  the  importation  which  it  thus  sanctions  was'  un 
questionably  of  persons  of  the  race  of  which  we  are  speaking, 
as  the  traffic  in  slaves  in  the  United  States  had  always  been 
confined  to  them.  And  by  the  other  provision  the  States 
pledge  themselves  to  each  other  to  maintain  the  right  of  prop 
erty  of  the  master,  by  delivering  up  to  him  any  slave  who  may 
have  escaped  from  his  service,  and  be  found  within  their  respec 
tive  territories.  By  the  first  above-mentioned  clause,  there 
fore,  the  right  to  purchase  and  hold  this  property  is  directly 
sanctioned  and  authorized  for  twenty  years  by  the  people  who 
framed  the  Constitution.  And  by  the  second,  they  pledge 
themselves  to  maintain  and  uphold  the  right  of  the  master  in 
the  manner  specified,  as  long  as  the  Government  they  then 
formed  should  endure.  And  these  two  provisions  show,  con- 


156         HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS 


clusively,  that  neither  the  description  of  persons  therein  referred 
to,  nor  their  descendants,  were  embraced  in  any  of  the  other 
provisions  of  the  Constitution  ;  for  certainly  these  two  clauses 
were  not  intended  to  confer  on  them  or  their  posterity  the  bless 
ings  of  liberty,  or  any  of  the  personal  rights  so  carefully  provid 
ed  for  -the  citizen. 

No  one  of  that  race  had  ever  migrated  to  the  United  States 
voluntarily  ;  all  of  them  had  been  brought  here  as  articles  of 
merchandise.  The  number  that  had  been  emancipated  at  that 
time  were  but  few  in  comparison  with  those  held'  in  slavery; 
and  they  were  identified  in  'the  public  mind  with  the  race  to 
which  they  belonged,  and  regarded  as  a  part  of  the  slave  popu 
lation  rather  than  the  free.  It  is  obvious  that  they  were  not 
even  in  the  minds  of  the  framers  of  the  Constitution  when  they 
were  conferring  special  rights  and  privileges  upon  the  citizens 
of  a  State  in  every  other  part  of  the  Union. 

Indeed,  when  we  look  to  the  condition  of  this  race  in  the 
several  States  at  the  time,  it  is  impossible  to  believe  that  these 
rights  and  privileges  were  intended  to  be  extended  to  them. 

It  is  very  true,  that  in  that  portion  of  the  Union  where  the 
labor  of  the  negro  race  was  found  to  be  unsuited  to  the  climate 
and  unprofitable  to  the  master,  but  few  slaves  were  held  at  the 
time  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  ;  and  when  the  Con 
stitution  was  adopted,  it  had  entirely  worn  out  in  one  of  them, 
and  measures  had  been  taken  for  its  gradual  abolition  in  several 
others.  But  this  change  had  not  been  produced  by  any  change 
of  opinion  in  relation  to  this  race  ;  but  because  it  was  dis 
covered,  from  experience,  that  slave  labor  was  unsuited  to  the 
climate  and  productions  of  these  States  ;  for  some  of  the  States, 
where  it  had  ceased  or  nearly  ceased  to  exist,  were  actively 
en  paired  i"  the  slave  trade,  procuring  cargoes  on  the  coast  of 
Africa,  and  transporting  them  for  sale  to  those  parts  of  the 
Union  where  their  labor  was  found  to  be  profitable,  and  suited 
to  the  climate  and  productions.  And  this  traffic  was  openly 


-  HELPER'S  IMPENDING  ciusis  DISSECTED.         157 

carried  on,  and  fortunes  accumulated  by  it,  without  reproach 
from  the  people  of  the  States  where  they  resided.  And  it 
can  hardly  be  supposed  that,  in  the  States  where  it  was 
then  countenanced  in  its  worst  form — that  is,  in  the  seizure 
and  transportation — the  people  could  have  regarded  those  who 
were  emancipated  as  entitled  to  equal  rights  with  them 
selves. 

And  we  may  here  again  refer,  in  support  of  this  proposition, 
to  the  plain  and  unequivocal  language  of  the  laws  of  the  several 
States,  some  passed  after  the  Declaration  of  Independence  and 
before  the  Constitution  was  adopted,  and  some  since  the  Gov 
ernment  went  into  operation. 

We  need  not  refer,  on  this  point,  particularly  to  the  laws  of 
the  present  slaveholding  States.  Their  statute  books  are  full 
of  provisions  in  relation  to  this  class,  in  the  same  spirit  with 
the  Maryland  law  which  we  have  before  quoted.  They  have 
continued  to  treat  them  as  an  inferior  class,  and  to  subject 
them  to  strict  police  regulations,  drawing  a  broad  line  of  dis 
tinction  between  the  citizen  and  the  slave  races,  and  legislating 
in  relation  to  them  upon  the  same  principle  which  prevailed  at 
the  time  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  As  relates  to 
these  States,  it  is  too  plain  for  argument,  that  they  have  never 
been  regarded  as  a  part  of  the  people  or  citizens  of  the  State, 
nor  supposed  to  possess  any  political  rights  which  the  domi 
nant  race  might  not  withhold  or  grant  at  their  pleasure.  And 
as  long  ago  as  1822,  the  Court  of  Appeals  of  Kentucky  decided 
that  free  negroes  and  mulattoes  were  not  citizens  within  the 
meaning  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  ;  and  the 
correctness  of  this  decision  is  recognized,  and  the  same  doc 
trine  affirmed,  in  1  Meigs's  Tenn.  Reports,  331. 

And  if  we  turn  to  the  legislation  of  the  States  where  slavery 
had  worn  out,  or  measures  taken  for  its  speedy  abolition,  we 
shall  find  the  same  opinions  and  principles  equally  fixed  and 
equally  ncted  upon. 
'    14 


158         HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

Thus,  Massachusetts,  in  1786,  passed  a  law  similar  to  the 
colonial  one  of  which  we  have  spoken.  The  law  of  1786,  like 
the  law  of  1705,  forbids  the  marriage  of  any  white  person  with 
any  negro,  Indian,  or  mulatto,  and  inflicts  a  penalty  of  fifty 
pounds  upon  any  one  who  shall  join  them  in  marriage  ;  and 
declares  all  such  marriages  absolutely  null  and  void,  and 
degrades  thus  the  unhappy  issue  of  the  marriage  by  fixing  upon 
it  the  stain  of  bastardy.  And  this  mark  of  degradation  was 
renewed,  and  again  impressed  upon  the  race,  in  the  careful  and 
deliberate  preparation  of  their  revised  code  published  in  1836. 
This  code  forbids  any  person  from  joining  in  marriage  any 
white  person  with  any  Indian,  negro,  or  mulatto,  and  subjects 
the  party  who  shall  offend  in  this  respect,  to  imprisonment,  not 
exceeding  six  months,  in  the  common  jail,  or  to  hard  labor,  and 
to  a  fine  of  not  less  than  fifty  nor  more  than  two  hundred  dol 
lars;  and,  like  the  law  of  1786,  it  declares  the  marriage  to  be 
absolutely  null  and  void.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  punishment 
is  increased  by  the  code  upon  the  person  who  shall  marry 
them,  by  adding  imprisonment  to  a  pecuniary  penalty. 

So,  too,  in  Connecticut.  We  refer  more  particularly  to  the 
legislation  of  this  State,  because  it  was  not  only  among  the 
first  to  put  an  end  to  slavery  within  its  own  territory,  but  was 
the  first  to  fix  a  mark  of  reprobation  upon  the  African  slave 
trade.  The  law  last  mentioned  was  passed  in  October,  1788, 
about  nine  months  after  the  State  had  ratified  and  adopted  the 
present  Constitution  of  the  United  States  ;  and  by  that  law 
it  prohibited  its  own  citizens,  under  severe  penalties,  from 
engaging  in  the  trade,  and  declared  all  policies  of  insurance  on 
the  vessel  or  cargo  made  in  the  State  to  be  null  and  void.  But, 
up  to  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  there  is 
nothing  in  the  legislation  of  the  State  indicating  any  change 
of  opinion  as  to  the  relative  rights  and  position  of  the  white 
and  black  races  in  this  country,  or  indicating  .that  it  meant  to 
place  the  hitter,  u'lx-n  free,  upon  :i  level  with  its  citizens.  And 


HELPER'S   IMPENDING    CEISIS   DISSECTED.  159 

certainly  nothing  which  would  have  led  the  slaveholding  States 
to  suppose  that  Connecticut  designed  to  claim  for  them,  under 
the  new  Constitution,  the  equal  rights  and  privileges  and  rank 
of  citizens  in  every  other  State. 

The  first  step  taken  by  Connecticut  upon  this  subject  was 
as  early  as  1774,  when  it  passed  an  act  forbidding  the  further 
importation  of  slaves  into  the  State.  But  the  section  contain 
ing  the  prohibition  is  introduced  by  the  following  preamble  : 

"And  whereas  the  increase  of  slaves  in  this  State  is  injuri 
ous  to  the  poor,  and  inconvenient." 

This  recital  would  appear  to  have  been  carefully  introduced, 
in  order  to  prevent  any  misunderstanding  of  the  motives  which 
induced  the  Legislature  to  pass  the  law,  and  places  it  distinctly 
upon  the  interest  and  convenience  of  the  white  population — 
excluding  the  inference  that  it  might  have  been  intended  in  any 
degree  for  the  benefit  of  the  other. 

And  in  the  act  of  1784,  by  which  the  issue  of  slaves,  born 
after  the  time  therein  mentioned,  were  to  be  free  at  a  certain 
age,  the  section  is  again  introduced  by  a  preamble  assigning  a 
similar  motive  for  the  act.  It  is  in  these  words  : 

"  Whereas  sound  policy  requires  that  the  abolition  of  slavery 
should  be  effected  as  soon  as  may  be  consistent  with  the  rights 
of  individuals,  and  the  public  safety  and  welfare" — showing 
that  the  right  of  property  in  the  master  was  to  be  protected, 
and  that  the  measure  was  one  of  policy,  and  to  prevent  the 
injury  and  inconvenience,  to  the  whites,  of  a  slave  population 
in  the  State. 

And  still  further  pursuing  its  legislation,  we  find  that  in  the 
same  statute  passed  in  1774,  which  prohibited  the  further  im 
portation  of  slaves  into  the  State,  there  is  also  a  provision  by 
which  any  negro,  Indian,  or  mulatto  servant,  who  was  found 
wandering  out  of  the  town  or  place  to  which  he  belonged,  with 
out  a  written  pass  such  as  therein  described,  was  made  liable 
to  be  seized  by  any  one,  and  taken  before  the  next  authority  to 


160  HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

be  examined  and  delivered  up  to  his  master — who  was  required 
to  pay  the  charge  which  had  accrued  thereby.  And  a  subse 
quent  section  of  the  same  law  provides,  that  if  any  free  negro 
shall  travel  without  such  pass,  and  shall  be  stopped,  seized,  or 
taken  up,  he  shall  pay  all  charges  arising  thereby.  And  this 
law  was  in  full  operation  when  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  was  adopted,  and  was  not  repealed  till  1797.  So  that 
up  to  that  time  free  negroes  and  mulattoes,  were  associated 
with  servants  and  slaves  in  the  police  regulations  established  by 
the  laws  of  the  State. 

And  again,  in  1833,  Connecticut  passed  another  law,  which 
made  it  penal  to  set  up  or  establish  any  school  in  that  State 
for  the  instruction  of  persons  of  the  African  race  not  inhabit 
ants  of  the  State,  or  to  instruct  or  teach  in  any  such  school  or 
institution,  or  board  or  harbor  for  that  purpose,  any  such  per 
son,  without  the  previous  consent  in  writing  of  the  civil  au 
thority  of  the  town  in  which  such  school  or  institution  might  be. 

The  legislation  of  the  States  therefore  shows,  in  a  manner 
not  to  be  mistaken,  the  inferior  and  subject  condition  of  that 
race  at  the  time  the  Constitution  was  adopted,  and  long  after 
ward,  throughout  the  thirteen  States,  by  which  that  instrument 
was  framed :  and  it  is  hardly  consistent  with  the  respect  due  to 
these  States,  to  suppose  that  they  regarded  at  that  time,  as 
fellow-citizens  and  members  of  the  sovereignty,  a  class  of  beings 
whom  they  had  thus  stigmatized ;  whom,  as  we  are  bound,  out 
of  respect  to  the  State  sovereignties,  to  assume  they  had 
deemed  it  just  and  necessary  thus  to  stigmatize,  and  upon  whom 
they  had  impressed  such  deep  and  enduring  marks  of  inferiority 
and  degradation  ;  or,  that  when  they  met  in  convention  to  form 
the  Constitution,  they  looked  upon  them  as  a  portion  of  their 
constituents,  or  designed  to  include  them  in  the  provisions  so 
carefully  inserted  for  the  security  and  protection  of  the  liberties 
and  rights  of  their  citizens.  It  cannot  be  supposed  that  they 
intended  to  secure  to  them  rights  and  privileges,  and  rank,  in 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.         161 

the  new  political  body,  throughout  the  Union,  which  every  one 
of  th^m  denied  within  the  limits  of  its  own  dominion.  More 
especially,  it  cannot  be  believed  that  the  large  slaveholding 
States  regarded  them  as  included  in  the  word  citizens,  or  would 
have  consented  to  a  Constitution  which  might  compel  them  to 
receive  them  in  that  character  from  another  State.  For  if  they 
were  so  received,  and  entitled  to  the  privileges  and  immunities 
of  citizens,  it  would  exempt  them  from  the  operation  of  the 
special  laws  and  from  the  police  regulations  which  they 
considered  to  be  necessary  for  their  own  safety.  It  would  give 
to  persons  of  the  negro  race,  who  were  recognized  as  citizens  in 
any  one  State  of  the  Union,  the  right  to  enter  every  other 
State,  whenever  they  pleased,  singly  or  in  companies,  without 
pass  or  passport,  and  without  obstruction,  to  sojourn  there  as 
long  as  they  pleased,  to  go  where  they  pleased  at  every  hour  of 
the  day  or  night  without  molestation,  unless  they  committed 
some  violation  of  the  law  for  which  a  white  man  would  be 
punished ;  and  it  would  give  them  the  full  liberty  of  speech  in 
public  and  in  private  upon  all  subjects  upon  which  its  own  citi 
zens  might  speak ;  to  hold  public  meetings  upon  political 
affairs,  and  to  keep  and  carry  arms  wherever  they  went.  And 
all  of  this  would  be  done  in  the  face  of  the  subject  race  of  the 
same  color,  both  free  and  slaves,  and  inevitably  producing 
discontent  and  insubordination  among  them,  and  endangering 
the  peace  and  safety  of  the  State. 

It  is  impossible,  it  would  seem,  to  believe  that  the  great  men 
of  the  slaveholding  States,  who  took  so  large  a  share  in 
framing  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  exercised  so 
much  influence  in  procuring  its  adoption,  could  have  been  so 
forgetful  or  regardless  of  their  own  safety  and  the  safety  of 
those  who  trusted  and  confided  in  them. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

Northern  Testimony  in  regard  to  the  Aggressions  of  the  Republican 
Party  against  the  South — Extracts  from  the  Speeches  of  the  Hon. 
J.  A.  Logan  and  Stephen  A.  Douglas — The  Damage  inflicted  upon 
the  Northern  Merchants  and  Manufacturers  by  the  Republican 
Party — The  Proofs — The  South  in  favor  of  Disunion  in  certain 
Contingencies — Eloquent  Defence  of  the  South,  by  Hon.  Horatio 
G.  Seymour,  of  New  York,  and  Col.  J.  W.  Wall,  of  New  Jersey. 

WE  take  the  following  extract  from  a  speech  of  Hon. 
J.  A.  Logan,  of  Illinois,  delivered  in  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives,  December  9,  1859. 

"Look  upon  both  sides  of  this  hall,  and  what  do  we  behold? 
On  the  right,  seats  occupied  by  Republicans,  representing 
purely  a  Northern  and  sectional  party ;  when  the  list  of  mem 
bers  is  called,  you  hear  not  the  voice  of  a  Republican  answering 
from  the  land  of  Washington,  who  led  our  armies  through  the 
Revolution  to  victory,  giving  us  free  institutions,  peace,  pros 
perity,  and  happiness  as  a  great  nation.  No  voice  from  the 
land  of  Jefferson,  who  penned  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 
No  voice  from  the  land  of  Madison,  who  drafted  the  Constitu 
tion  now  attempted  to  be  destroyed  by  their  prejudices  and 
fanaticism.  No  voice  from  the  land  of  Jackson,  who  restored 
the  glory  of  the  American  arms  after  they  had  been  disgraced 
at  the  North !" 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.         163 

We  also  quote  an  extract  from  a  speech  of  Hon.  Stephen 
A.  Douglas,  delivered  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States, 
January  23,  1860  :— 

"I  have  always  noted  that  those  men  who  were  so  far  off 
from  the  slave  States  that  they  did  not  know  any  thing  about 
them,  are  most  anxious  for  the  fate  of  the  poor  slave.  Those 
men  who  are  so  far  off  that  they  do  not  know  what  a  negro  is, 
are  distressed  to  death  about  the  condition  of  the  poor  negro. 
But,  sir,  go  into  the  border  States,  where  we  associate  across 
the  line,  where  the  civilities  of  society  are  constantly  inter 
changed,  where  we  trade  with  each  other,  and  have  social  and 
commercial  intercourse,  and  there  you  will  find  them  standing 
by  each  other  like  a  band  of  brothers.  Take  Southern  Illinois, 
Southern  Indiana,  Southern  Ohio,  and  that  part  of  Pennsyl 
vania  bordering  on  Maryland,  and  there  you  will  find  social 
intercourse,  commercial  intercourse,  good  feeling, — because 
those  people  know  the  condition  of  the  slave  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  line;  but  just  in  proportion  as  you  recede  from  the 
slave  States,  just  in  proportion  as  the  people  are  ignorant  of 
the  facts, — just  in  that  proportion, — party  leaders  can  impose 
on  their  sympathies  and  honest  prejudices." 

Again,  says  this  distinguished  Senator : — 
"  Slavery  may  be  very  essential  in  one  climate,  and  totally 
useless  in  another.  If  I  were  a  citizen  of  Louisiana,  I  would 
vote  for  retaining  and  maintaining  slavery,  because  I  believe 
the  good  of  that  people  would  require  it.  As  a  citizen  of  Illi 
nois,  I  am  utterly  opposed  to  it,  because  our  interests  would 
not  be  promoted  by  it.  I  should  like  to  see  the  Abolitionist 
who  would  go  and  live  in  a  Southern  country,  that  would  not 
get  over  his  scruples  very  soon,  and  have  a  plantation  as 
quickly  as  he  could  get  the  money  to  buy  it. 

I  have  s&id,  and  repeat,  that  this  question  of  slavery  is  one 
of  climate,  of  political  economy,  of  self-interest, — not  a  ques- 


164       HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

tion  of  legislation.  Wherever  the  climate,  the  soil,  the  health 
of  the  country  are  such  that  it  cannot  be  cultivated  by  white 
labor,  you  will  have  African  labor,  and  compulsory  labor  at 
that.  Wherever  white  labor  can  be  employed  cheapest  and 
most  profitably,  there  African  labor  will  retire  and  white  labor 
will  take  its  place." 

The  Philadelphia  Atlas  of  January  29,  1860,  says,  on 
the  threatened  non-intercourse  between  the  South  and 
North : — 

"We  are  not  at  all  surprised  that,  under  the  influence  of  the 
present  excitement,  the  South  should  seriously  consider  the 
propriety  of  doing  its  own  exportation  and  importation.  The 
concentration  of  so  large  a  portion  of  the  material  wealth  of 
this  country  in  the  Northern  States, — their  more  rapid  progress 
in  the  arts, — is  not  entirely  attributable  to  the  superiority  of 
free  over  slave  labor.  The  criminal  negligence  of  our  Southern 
friends  in  extending  their  commerce,  and  building  up  their 
manufactures,  and  their  lavish  expenditures  of  money  for  the 
sole  profit  of  the  Northern  merchant  and  manufacturer,  will 
largely  account  for  the  disparity  between  the  two  sections  in 
wealth  and  power. 

We  not  only  export  their  cotton,  rice,  sugar  and  tobacco, 
and  realize  a  very  handsome  profit  thereon,  but  we  import 
nearly  all  their  costly  goods,  and  supply  them  with  the  pro 
ducts  of  our  factories  at  such  prices  as  we  please  to  charge 
[them.  Our  literary  and  scientific  institutions  are  mainly  sup 
ported  by  Southern  patrons.  Our  watering  places  and  moun 
tain  retreats  are  crowded  in  the  hot  summer  months  with  the 
gay  mothers  and  daughters  of  the  sunny  South. 

Now  suppose  that  our  brothers  south  of  Mason  and  Dixon's 
should  discontinue  this  profitable  intercourse,  what  then?  Why 
the  New  England  fanatics  would  pale  with  terror,  and  the 
North  would  appreciate  the  folly,  not  to  say  the  criminality,  of 
intermeddling  with  other  people's  business. 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.         165 

This  is  no  impossible  thing.  Indeed,  we  think  it  much  more 
probable  than  a  dissolution  of  the  Union.  For  we  can  well 
conceive  the  vast  benefit  of  the  one,  and  the  disastrous  conse 
quences  of  the  other  movement  to  the  South.  There  would  be 
a  heroism  in  this,  a  madness  and  ruinnin  that.  This  would  be 
worthy  of  a  brave,  indignant,  patriotic,  and  independent  peo 
ple, — that  would  be  the  act  of  rashness  and  folly. 

Why  should  not  New  Orleans,  Mobile,  Charleston,  Norfolk 
and  Baltimore  become  rivals  of  Boston,  New  York  and  Phila 
delphia,  if  the  Southern  patronage  should  be  transferred  thither  ? 
We  would  have  no  right  to  complain  at  this.  Our  people  have 
wantonly  provoked  the  South.  We  tolerate  men  in  our  midst 
who  are  ever  warring  on  the  South,  stealing  negroes,  and  coun 
seling  insurrection.  A  squeamish  sentimentalism  about  slavery 
is  the  prevailing  type  of  Northern  idiosyncracy.  Many  of  our 
people  disregard  the  Constitution,  and  are  ready  to  trample  it 
in  the  dust,  rather  than  that  the  negro  should  remain  in  that 
condition,  in  which  he  appears  to  thrive  very  well,  for  a  single 
day.  No  allowance  is  made  for  the  difficulties  in  which  the 
question  of  emancipation  is  involved.  And  these  people  to 
tally  forget  that  they  have  no  right  to  interfere  with  the  ques 
tion,  unless  they  are  prepared  to  pay  for  the  negro's  freedom, 
and  his  master  is  willing  to  sell  him.  They  foolishly  expect  to 
coerce  the  Southern  people  to  adopt  their  views  of  slavery,  and 
under  the  promptings  of  an  awakened  conscience,  to  uproot 
their  social  fabric,  and  forever  impoverish  themselves  and  their 
posterity. 

So  long  as  these  views  are  freely  expressed  in  private  and 
public  by  the  press,  and  from  our  pulpits,  is  it  strange  that  the 
South  should  be  excited,  or  that  her  people  should  determine 
to  deal  elsewhere,  and  depend  •  more  upon  their  own  resources  ? 

Instead  of  passing  personal  liberty  bills,  and  obstructing  the 
execution  of  the  federal  laws ;  instead  of  organizing  a  party 
to  exclude,  by  Congressional  enactments,  our  Southern  brothers 


166        HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

from  the  common  territories  of  the  Union,  we  were  to  provide 
means  for  punishing  treason,  and  maintaining  the  laws,  we 
would  be  acting  wisely  and  patriotically,  and  would  restore 
that  fraternal  feeling  which  characterized  the  early  days  of  the 
Republic.  • 

Let  our  business  men  look  at  this  question,  and  unite  in 
bringing  about  a  healthy  reaction  in  the  North.  After  all  that 
has  been  said  in  Congress  and  out  of  it,  the  difficulty  may  be 
resolved  into  a  question  of  dollars  and  cents.  The  Northern 
manufacturer  wants  to  obtain  possession  of  the  Government  in 
order  to  prostitute  its  power  for  his  special  protection.  The 
tariff,  although  supposed  to  be  a  bygone  issue,  is  yet  at  the 
bottom  of  this  contest.  The  negro  is  made  the  hobby  of  both 
sections,  because  he  represents  that  species  of  labor  which  does 
not  come  in  competition  with  foreign  labor,  and  because  he  is 
the  object  of  special  regard  and  sympathy  by  a  large  class  of 
diseased  philanthropists." 

The  chief  organ  of  Seward  in  the  North  charges  the 
Democracy  of  the  South  with  being  a  disunion  party, — a 
charge  which  has  been  often  made  of  late,  and  reiterated 
usque  ad  nauseam.  This  charge  is,  to  a  certain  extent, 
undoubtedly  true,  and  ought  to  be  admitted.  It  is  true 
conditionally — true  in  a  certain  contingency,  which  may 
or  may  not  happen.  The  universal  sentiment,  not  only 
of  the  Democracy  of  the  South,  but  of  the  whole  South, 
is,  that  in  the  event  of  the  anti-slavery  parties  of  the 
North  gaining  the  ascendant  in  the  Federal  Government, 
the  wisest  policy  of  the  Southern  communities  is  to  secede 
peaceably  from  the  Union,  before  a  tyrant  majority  in 
Congress  proceeds  to  reduce  them  to  a  base  subjection, 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.         167 

which  would  place  them  in  the  position  of  conquered  pro 
vinces,  instead  of  independent  sovereign  States.  This 
has  been  proclaimed  by  the  leading  men  of  the  South  in 
both  houses  of  Congress,  declared  in  their  State  Legisla 
tures  and  by  the  Governors  of  States,  enunciated  by  the 
people  in  their  mass  meetings,  and  by  their  presses,  from 
Delaware  to  Texas. 

Now  this  is  an  alarming  condition  of  things,  tending  di 
rectly  to  the  breaking  up  of  the  Union ;  and  the  question 
is,  What  cause  has  produced  these  dire  effects  ?  We  an 
swer,  that  thirty  years  of  anti-slavery  agitation  at  the  North 
h#s  at  last  culminated  in  a  crisis  which  has  driven  the 
South  to  the  wall,  and  compels  it  to  stand  at  bay.  A 
moral  war  has  been  waged  against  its  institutions,  which 
are  guaranteed  by  the  Constitution,  protected  by  the  Con 
stitution,  and  incorporated  into  the  very  framework  of 
the  Constitution.  Garrison  and  Phillips  are  undoubtedly 
right,  and  honest  as  they  are  right,  when  they  pronounce 
the  Constitution  "pro-slavery."  It  is  pro-slavery,  and 
therefore  they  curse  it,  and  curse  the  Union  of  which  it  is 
the  bond.  The  moral  war  against  the  institutions  of  the 
South  has  proceeded  step  by  step  till  at  length  it  has  be 
come  a  physical  war, — a  war  of  saltpetre  and  brimstone, 
and  rifles  and  pikes, — of  which  the  saint  and  martyr  John 
Brown  is  the  pioneer,  and  of  which  Helper's  Compendium, 
endorsed  by  all  the 'leading  men  of  the  Republican  party, 
is  the  law  and  gospel.  William  H.  Seward,  who  has  given 
this  book  a  special  endorsement,  is  the  prophet  of  the 


168         HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

party,  who,  like  Mahomet,  with  the  Koran  in  one  hand 
and  a  sword  in  the  other,  issues  his  declaration  of  war 
against  the  South,  threatening  to  subject  its  institutions  to 
a  higher  law,  (a  new  book  of  Mormon ;)  and  his  disciple, 
Mr.  Hickman,  of  Pennsylvania,  follows  up  the  menace  of 
the  "  irrepressible  conflict,"  of  which  there  was  a  foretaste 
at  Harper's  Ferry,  by  another  menace  that  the  higher 
law  will  be  forced  upon  the  South  by  eighteen  millions  of 
bayonets ;  and  the  man  who  is  at  the  head  of  this  party, 
William  H.  Seward,  is  its  candidate  for  the  Chief  Magis 
tracy,  which  would  place  at  his  disposal,  and  at  their  dis 
posal,  the  Federal  army  and  navy,  and  the  militia  of  the 
several  States. 

Has  not  the  South,  then,  reason  to  fear  the  worst  in  the 
event  of  the  triumph  of  the  anti-slavery  party,  and  the 
election  of  William  H.  Seward  ?  And  is  it  not  natural 
that  the  South  should  meditate  and  threaten  secession 
from  a  Union  which  would  no  longer  exist  but  on  parch 
ment,  and  which  would  be  henceforth  only  the  union  of 
the  shark  with  his  prey  ?  The  Harper's  Ferry  invasion 
may  be  explained  away,  but  the  South  will  regard  the 
election  of  Mr.  Seward  as  the  palpable,  incontrovertible, 
overt  act  of  the  whole  North,  foreshadowing  the  other 
overt  acts  in  his  programme.  It  will  regard  his  election 
by  a  Northern  majority  and  a  sectional  issue  as  the  first 
act .  of  disunion  committed  by  the  combined  Northern 
States,  and  it  will  consider  itself  as  absolved  before  God 
and  man  from  all  future  allegiance  to  the  Union,  Judging 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.          169 

from  the  best  information  we  have  received  from  every 
State  in  the  South,  our  solemn  conviction  is  that,  if  Mr. 
Seward  should  be  elected,  or  any  other  man  who  adopts 
the  programme  of  his  "irrepressible  conflict,"  he  will 
never  be  inaugurated  at  the  Capitol  in  Washington. 

The  causes  which  are  precipitating  this  terrible  catastro 
phe  are  the  same  which  have  led  to  similar  results  in  all 
other  countries.  Take,  for  instance,  the  case  of  England 
and  her  North  American  colonies.  What  produced  their 
revolt  ?  It  was  the  oppression  of  the  mother  country, 
which  attempted  by  a  high  hand  to  interfere  with  the 
legislation  of  the  colonial  Assemblies  and  to  ignore  the 
rights  of  the  people.  They  remonstrated  in  vain,  and  at 
last  threatened.  The  leaders  who  gave  expression  to  their 
menaces  were  then  called  disunionists,  traitors,  and  rebels. 
Undoubtedly  they  were  disloyal,  and  disloyalty  at  last  be 
came  patriotism,  and  success  justified  and  sanctified  the 
Revolution.  What  produced  the  disunion,  disloyalty,  and 
.Revolution?  The  tyranny  of  the  British  Government, 
which,  because  it  had  the  power,  oppressed  its  weak  colo 
nies,  and  broke  the  political  compact.  In  the  same  way, 
the  anti-slavery  party  have  become  a  majority  in  the 
North,  and  control  its  elections  and  resources ;  and  they 
abuse  their  power  by  nullifying  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and  breaking  the  compact — the  solemn 
league  and  covenant  into  which  all  the  States  entered  at 
the  time  of  the  Union ;  and  the  Northern  States  repudiate 

their  obligations,  and  say  they  will  not  restore  fugitive 
15 


170          HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

slaves,  though  commanded  by  the  Constitution  and  the 
laws  of  Congress,  and  that  they  will  not  permit  any  more 
slave  States,  which  is  in  direct  violation  of  the  letter  and 
spirit  of  the  Constitution,  and  in  defiance  of  the  history 
of  the  country,  from  the  foundation  of  the  Government, 
during  which  nine  slave  States  have  been  admitted.  And 
if  they  get  possession  and  control  of  the  Federal  Govern 
ment,  they  plainly  declare  they  will  carry  out  their  ideas 
with  force  and  arms,  fire  and  sword.  Here  is  the  cause 
of  the  disunion  at  the  South,  where  ten  States  have  al- 
already  "pronounced." 

What,  then,  is  the  duty  of  the  conservatives  of  the 
Middle  States — all  who  detest  perfidy,  covenant-breaking, 
and  "  Carthagenian  faith" — all  our  merchants  and  manu 
facturers,  and  all  who  have  an  interest  in  the  continuance 
of  the  Union  ?  Their  plain  duty  is  to  unite,  put  down  the 
anti-slavery  agitation,  declare  their  intention  to  render  the 
South  the  justice  due  to  it  by  the  terms  of  the  bond,  and, 
as  the  best  evidence  of  their  sincerity,  rally  around  and 
elect  a  man  to  the  Presidency  who  will  faithfully  carry 
out  this  policy.  Then,  and  not  till  then,  will  the  disunion 
party  cease  to  exist  at  the  South ;  but  if  the  solemn  warn 
ings  given  by  the  signs  of  the  times  are  disregarded,  and 
if  the  anti-slavery  sentiment  is  permitted  to  gain  the  as 
cendency  next  fall,  then  we  shall  soon  find,  not  merely 
threats  of  disunion  at  the  South,  but  disunion  itself,  and 
the  dissolution  of  the  greatest  and  best  political  confeder 
acy  the  world  ever  saw. 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.         171 

There  are  many  true  patriots  in  the  North,  as  will  be 
seen  by  the  following  eloquent  defense  of  the  South,  made 
by  the  Hon.  Horatio  G.  Seymour,  of  New  York. 

When  our  fathers,  on  common  battle-fields,  were  struggling 
for  common  -rights,  slavery  existed  in  all  our  colonies  ;  there 
was  no  exception ;  it  was  on  every  rood  of  ground.  We  had 
no  difficulty  on  account  of  slavery,  then,  in  achieving  our  inde 
pendence.  But  since  that  time  slavery  has  been  abolished  over 
more  than  half  of  this  land  of  ours.  It  is  now  in  comparatively 
contracted  limits,  and  now  we  hear  that  it  must  lead  to  aliena 
tion,  or  the  disruption  of  this  great  confederacy.  I  fear  that 
we  of  the  North  are  unjust,  and  not  altogether  courage 
ous,  in  our  treatment  to  our  brethren  of  the  South.  How 
came  slavery  in  these  United  States  ?  Who  brought  the  negro 
from  Africa  ?  The  South  never  had  ships.  The  men  of  New 
York,  where  I  came  from,  the  men  of  Massachusetts,  and  the 
men  of  Rhode  Island,  were  those  who  stole  them  from  their 
homes  and  brought  them  over  to  the  shambles  here.  Who  laid 
the  foundations  of  slavery  which  underlie  the  institutions  of 
many  of  our  States  ?  The  time  was  when,  over  the  whole 
length  and  breadth  of  this  land  of  ours,  the  people  did  not 
recognize  the  black  man  as  having  any  political  rights.  Now, 
my  friends,  that  is  just  as  true  of  Massachusetts  as  of  South 
Carolina,  and  Judge  Taney,  in  so  stating,  merely  stated  a  his 
torical  fact  and  known  to  be  so  by  every  student  of  history. 
The  other  day,  in  looking  over  papers  which  came  into  my 
hands,  I  found  an  original  document,  a  bill  of  sale  for  a  slave 
from  a  man  in  Massachusetts  to  a  Man  in  New  York,  and  that 
paper  throws  a  most  remarkable  light  over  the  whole  question 
of  slavery.  It  commenced  thus  :  "  To  all  Christian  people  to 
whom  these  presents  may  come,  I,  Mark  Rose,  sell  my  slave," 
&c.  The  people  of  Massachusetts  held  that  no  persons  were 
entitled  to  any  political  privileges  unless  they  were  Christians ; 


172         HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

and  they  went  further  than  that — they  held  that  no  one  was 
entitled  to  political  privileges  unless  he  was  the  right  kind  of  a 
Christian.  They  held  the  views  which  laid  the  foundation  of 
slavery  in  the  theology  of  that  time.  They  sold  Quakers  into 
slavery — they  sold  the  family  of  King  Philip  into  slavery. 
These  were  the  sentiments  that  existed  in  the  North  in  our 
early  days.  When  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  was 
formed,  and  when  the  delegates  from  the  different  States  met  in 
convention,  the  question  of  slavery  was  there,  and  it  was  asked, 
when  shall  the  slave  trade  be  put  an  end  to  ?  Georgia  says, 
now ;  Virginia  says,  now  ;  South  Carolina  says,  not  yet ;  Con 
necticut,  not  yet ;  Rhode  Island,  not  yet ;  Massachusetts,  not 
yet ;  New  Hampshire  said  not  yet — the  slave  trade  is  profit 
able.  If  you  will  read  Minot's  History  of  Massachusetts,  you 
will  learn  that  the  great  business  of  New  England  was  at  one 
time  the  manufacture  of  rum — pure  rum  ;  and  when  they  made 
rum,  they  took  it  to  the  coast  of  Africa  and  exchanged  it  for 
slaves.  The  slavers  landefftheir  cargoes  on  some  unfrequented 
shores  of  the  Southern  coast,  and  forthwith  the  entire  South 
was  charged  with  complicity  in  the  slave  trade.  But  they  do 
not,  at  the  same,  time,  tell  you,  that  the  slave  ships  are  fitted 
out  from  New  England  ports — that  they  glide  out  to  sea  upon 
their  nefarious  voyages  beneath  the  shades  of  Bunker  Hill. 

The  political  power  of  our  country  is  in  the  hands  of  the 
free  States.  The  population  of  the  country  increases  at  the 
rate  of  a  million  a  year;  of  this  increase  the  North  receives 
over  seven  hundred  thousand.  This  large  majority  of  the  yearly 
increase  has  given  the  North  her  strength  in  the  confederacy. 
How  came  the  North  by  this  excess  of  the  increase.  At  the 
outset  we  were  equal — then  we  were  all  slave  States.  Now, 
what  led  to  the  abolishment  of  slavery  in  the  North,  and  thus 
gave  us  the  basis  of  our  present  strength  ?  I  will  tell  you,  my 
friends,  and  you  all  know  it  to  be  so.  The  Democratic  party 
party,  under  Jefferson,  inaugurated  the  wise  and  beneficent 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.         173 

policy  of  inviting  the  laborer  of  the  old  world  to  plant  himself 
down  upon  the  great  and  fertile  plains  of  our  country. 

Under  this  policy,  the  emigrants  from  Europe  flocked  to  the 
Northern  States,  because  they  found  in  their  soil  and  climate, 
and  in  their  institutions,  a  more  congenial  home.  So  you  see, 
my  friends,  that  it  has  been  under  a  policy  inaugurated  by  South 
ern  statesmen — a  policy  which  found  its  most  bitter  opponents 
at  the  North — that  our  section  has  become  all  powerful  in  the 
government.  We  have  now  a  majority  in  the  Senate,  in  the 
House  of  Representatives,  and  in  the  Electoral  College  ;  but 
the  census  of  1860  will  show  that  two-thirds  of  the  members 
of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  an  overwhelming  major 
ity  in  the  Senate,  represent  free  States.  Is  this  a  time,  and 
are  these  the  circumstances  under  which  an  "  irrepressible  con 
flict"  shall  be  waged  against  the  people  and  institutions  of  the 
weaker  section  ?  When  the  South  was  strong  and  we  were 
weak,  they  furnished  us  no  precedent  for  the  course  of  action 
we  now  propose  to  pursue  against  them.  These  being  the 
truths  which  history  teaches,  and  standing  here  as  I  do,  at  the 
very  head  waters  of  the  mighty  Mississippi,  whose  arms  lock 
our  country  together,  teaching  us  a  perpetual  lesson  of  fraternal 
love  and  union,  I  beg  you  to  pause  before  you  enter  upon  a 
sectional  warfare,  which  will  rive  asunder  those  whom  God  has 
joined  together. 

Before  you  do  this,  look  at  history,  and  see  if  the  South  has 
ever  hesitated  to  uphold  a  single  measure  which  was  calculated 
to  advance  the  whole  country ;  although  in  doing  so  they  have 
built  up  the  North  instead  of  the  South.  There  is  an  instinc 
tive  difference  between  the  two  parties.  The  Democratic  party 
is  a  let-alone  party — the  Republican  party  is  a  meddling  party. 
It  is  a  great  deal  easier  to  obtain  political  power  by  inflaming 
the  passions  and  prejudices  of  our  neighbors,  by  denouncing 
men  a  thousand  miles  away,  than  it  is  to  gain  influence  by  gov« 
erning  our  walk  in  life  by  the  principles  of  justice,  or  the  dic- 
15* 


174        HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

tates  of  a  sound  patriotism.  Is  it  not  too  true  that  the  reverse 
of  this  has  been  hurtful  to  the  morals  of  our  people — and  hurt 
ful  to  the  pulpit,  of  which  I  speak  with  all  reverence,  and  to 
the  holy  doctrines  which  should  issue  from  the  sacred  desk  ? 
Is  it  not  too  true,  my  Republican  friends,  that  a  rifle  for  Kan 
sas  or  a  curse  for  the  South  has  weighed  more  in  the  political 
scale  than  private  virtues  or  political  service  ?  Whence  comes 
slavery  ?  We  have  seen  who  prolonged  it.  Now,  my  friends, 
do  you  ever  stop  to  inquire  who  upholds  it  ?  It  is  sustained 
by  the  firm  of  "Weaver,  Wearer  &  Planter,"  and  two  of  the 
partners  live  up  North.  Every  one  knows  that  but  for  the 
looms  of  New  England  and  Old  England  it  could  not  live  a 
day.  The  loudest  denunciations  against  slavery  are  made  by 
men  with  cotton  shirts  on  their  back.  The  most  fervent  pulpit 
exhortations  against  slavery  come  from  men  who  wrap  them 
selves  for  repose  at  night  in  cotton  sheets,  who  lay  their  heads 
upon  cotton  pillows,  and  go  to  sleep  thanking  God  that  they  are 
better  than  the  men  "  'down  South."  I  was  called  upon  some 
years  ago,  while  Governor  of  New  York,  by  a  deputation  of 
Quakers  from  Great  Britain,  to  lay  before  me  a  "  testimony" 
against  slavery.  As  they  wished,  I  listened  to  them.  We 
afterward  fell  into  a  conversation,  and  the  question  arose  why 
the  people  of  Europe  were  oppressed  and  burdened  so  heavily 
by  taxation.  We  attributed  it  to  the  differences  in  their  lan 
guage — the  great  number  of  nationalities,  divided  by  imagin 
ary  lines — the  petty  jealousies  and  strifes,  and  consequent  neces 
sity  for  maintaining  large  standing  armies.  We  then  spoke  of  the 
blest  condition  of  Europe  if  all  these  rival  governments  could  be 
moulded  into  one,  speaking  a  common  language,  having  com 
mon  sympathies,  with  no  custom-houses  to  annoy,  and  no  stand 
ing  armies  to  threaten ;  and  my  Quaker  friends  warmed  with 
enthusiasm  at  the  glorious  picture,  and  expressed  the  earnest 
wish  that  such  a  day  might  dawn,  for  with  it  would  come  the 
true  millennium.  "But,"  said  I,  "when  all  this  has  been 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.        175 

ascliieved,  suppose  some  man  should  rise  up  in  England,  and 
say  that  all  this  genial  fellowship  among  the  nations,  this  com 
munity  of  interest  and  of  language  shall  be  destroyed  unless 
serfdom  shall  be  abrogated  in  Russia  and  polygamy  in  Turkey, 
wj|at  would  you  say  regarding  such  a  man  ?"  "  Say,"  said 
the  Quakers ;  "  we  would  say  that  he  deserved  the  anathemas 
of  all  good  men,  as  a  traitor  to  .the  best  interests  of  mankind 
for  doubting  that  God,  in  his  own  way,  and  in  his  own  good 
time,  would  work  out  a  remedy  for  all  these  wrongs  1"  "  Now," 
said  I,  "  my  friends,  when  we  drew  this  picture  of  Europe  it 
was  not  all  fancy.  I  described  the  broad  land  which  extends 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific — from  the  great  Lakes  to  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico.  Go  two  thousand  miles  over  this  land,  and 
no  custom-house  shall  stop  you — travel  to  its  furthest  limits  and 
you  shall  see  no  standing  armies — you  shall  hear  a  common 
language  and  shall  feel  a  common  sympathy.  Then  you  shall 
know  what  it  is  to  live  upon  a  great  broad  continent  where 
there  is  brotherhood  unalloyed  by  your  hatreds  and  antipathies. 
Why,  therefore,  do  you  come  here  to  teach  us  the  language  of 
strife  ?" 

Now,  my  friends,  to  make  the  application  : — Had  we,  from 
the  beginning,  been  arrayed  one  State  against  another — had 
we  disregarded  our  community  of  language  and  of  interest,  and 
fostered  the  hatreds  and  jealousies  which  we  are  now  taught  to 
cherish,  this  beautiful  Minnesota  would  yet  have  been  a  wilder 
ness,  the  painted  savages  would  yet  glide  down  the  noble  Mis 
sissippi,  and  the  waters  of  that  mighty  cataract,  whose  thun 
ders  I  almost  hear,  that  by  the  art  of  man  has  been  taught  to 
leap  forth  to  their  labors  at  the  rising  of  the  sun  and  retire  to 
their  rest  at  its  setting,  would  still  pursue  their  precipitous 
course  undisturbed. 

Said  Colonel  James  W.  Wall,  to  the  citizens  of  Newark, 
on  the  5th  November,  1859  : — 

Keep  up  "  this  irrepressible  conflict  between  freedom  and 


176         HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

slavery,"  predicted  and  prayed  for  by  the  leading-  Republican 
agitators  of  the  North,  and  I  tell  you  the  time  is  not  far  dis 
tant,  yea,  it  is  at  our  very  doors,  when  the  agonized  cry  shall 
come  up  from  Southern  hearthstones  made  desolate,  and  from 
fields  crimsoned  with  the  blood  of  master  and  of  slave,  for  ve/i- 
geance,  dire  vengeance,  npon  that  miserable  faction  who  fed  this 
flame  of  sectional  strife  until  its  lurid  glare  only  served  to  light  a  ser 
vile  insurrection  upon  its  hellish  work  of  desolation  and  of  death. 
When  that  hour  shall  come,  and  come  it  will  if  the  doctrines 
of  the  men  of  the  Seward,  Greeley,  Chase,  and  Turnbull  school 
are  pushed  to  their  inevitable  consequences  arid  conclusions, 
the  tie  that  now  binds  this  Union  and  grapples  State  to  State 
with  hooks  of  steel,  shall  become  a  rope  of  sand,  which  the 
breath  of  faction  may  scatter  to  the  winds. 

Deem  you  this  exaggeration  !  If  it  be  so,  then  it  is  not  the 
fault  of  that  Republican  party  in  the  North,  who  from  time  to 
time  sent  armed  men  forward  to  that  irrepressible  conflict  on 
the  soil  of  Kansas,  putting  in  the  lands  of  peaceful  emigrants 
Sharp's  rifles,  and  throwing  down  the  gauntlet  of  defiance  to 
our  Southern  brethren,  and  invoking  the  very  strife  that  they 
desired  to  have  kindled,  and  which  first  excited  the  brain  of 
that  mad  old  fanatic  and  enthusiast  who,  now  bleeding  and  in 
chains,  is  awatingthat  fate  which,  according  to  all  the  rules  of 
justice,  should  be  meted  out  to  such  men  as  Beecher,  Chapin, 
Greeley,  Blair,  and  a  host  of  others  who  first  hissed  him  on, 
and  cowardly  left  him  to  do  his  work  unaided  and  alone.  The 
men  who  first  sent  emissaries  into  Kansas — who  first  whispered 
in  their  ears  words  of  fierce  excitement  and  unextinguished  hate 
against  our  Southern  brethren,  are  the  men  who,  if  they  are 
not  responsible  to  the  legal  tribunals  of  the  country,  are  re 
sponsible  before  the  Higher  Laws,  which  they  acknowledge  as 
above  such  tribunals,  for  all  the  fierce  mischief  they  have  pro 
voked.  And  that  party,  which  under  the  name  of  Republican 
first  gave  its  money,  its  time,  its  intellect,  and  its  labor  to  be- 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.         177 

ginning  and  keeping  up  this  irrepressible  conflict  on  the  soil 
of  Kansas,  cannot  and  shall  not  dodge  the  responsibility  they 
have  so  wantonly  assumed ;  and  when  haunted  by  the  ghostly 
victims  it  has  betrayed,  no  wonder  its  knees  smite  together  and 
its  ghastly  eye-balls  glare,  as,  like  the  startled  conscience- 
stricken  Macbeth,  before  the  unmoved  ghost  of  Banquo,  it 
utters  the  same  lie  that  he  did — and  exclaims, 

"  Thou  canst  not  say  I  did  it ;  never  shake 
Thy  gory  locks  at  me." 

My  friends  I  know  there  are  men,  patriotic  men,  who  have 
without  thought  thrown  themselves  into  the  Republican  party, 
and  whose  hands  are  guiltless  of  all  this  blood,  and  upon  whose 
conscience  it  never  will  rest.  But  there  is  an  abolitionized 
element  entering  into  and  forming  part  of  this  Republican 
party,  without  which  it  could  not  live  an  hour.  That  is  the 
element,  that  like  a  salamander  rejoices  in  the  fires  of  sectional 
strife?  That  is  the  element  which  has  sown  the  dragon's  teeth 
in  Kansas,  and  brought  forth  strife  and  armed  men.  That  is 
the  element,  which  rearing  on  high  its  baneful  crest,  in  the 
hour  of  triumph  hissed  forth  that  damnable  heresy,  that  the 
irrepressible  conflict  between  freedom  and  slavery  must  go  on 
until  this  country  was  all  free  or  all  slave.  It  was  the  working 
of  that  element  which  filled  the  soul  of  the  poor  wretch,  Brown, 
until  brain  and  heart  both  reeled  beneath  the  impulse,  and 
drove  him  headlong  on  to  be  the  first  martyr  in  a  strife  which 
he  had  been  taught  to  believe  by  Beecher,  Greely  and  Chapin, 
was  only 

"  Freedom's  battle  once  begun." 

This  abolitionized  element  preaches  constant  and  endless 
agitation  upon  this  slavery  question.  I  know  that  it  does  not 
yet  dare  openly  to  proclaim  that  slavery  shall  be  abolished 
where  it  exists,  but  simply  confine  itself,  or  pretends  to  do  so, 
to  preventing  its  further  extension.  But  behind  all  this  lies 
the  hope  of  the  future,  not  dimly  forshadowed  either  in  that 


178  HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

devilish  expression  about  the  "irrepressible  conflict  that  is 
going  on  between  freedom  and  slavery  " — aye  !  openly  avowed 
'in  that  plain  and  startling  declaration  "  that  this  country  must 
be  one  day  all  slave  or  all  free."  If  this  be  not  the  fell  spirit 
of  Abolition  that  speaks  such  swelling  words,  then  it  is  some 
other  spirit  in  its  likeness. 

Our  Northern  brethren  may  ponder  over  the  eloquent 
remarks  of  their  Northern  friends,  and  resolve  to  cast  al, 
their  influence  against  the  aggressions  of  the  Republican 
Fanatics,  who  would  destroy  the  union  of  these  States  to 
gratify  their  own  wickedness. 


CHAPTEE    IX. 


Speech  of  the  Hon.  L.  Q.  C.  Lamar,  of  Mississippi,  on  the  Excite 
ment  of  the  Times — His  noble  Defense  of  Slavery — Civil  War  in 
the  United  States  predicted  years  ago  by  Commodore  Decatur,  of 
the  United  States  Navy — Slavery  proven  to  have  existed  in  the 
Hebrew  Nation — Lord  Macaulay,  the  author,  quoted  to  show  the 
vast  ruin  it  would  entail  upon  thousands  of  the  whites  in  En 
gland,  were  Slavery  abolished  in  the  United  States — The  great 
blessings  of  the  Cotton  Crop. 

WE  give  entire  the  speech  of  the  Hon.  L.  Q.  C.  LAMAR, 
of  Mississippi,  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  February 
21,  1860. 

The  House  being  in  the  Committee  of  the  Whole  on  the 
State  of  the  Union,  and  having  under  consideration  the 
President's  Annual  Message,  Mr.  Lamar  said : 

"  Mr.  CHAIRMAN  :  I  obtained  the  floor  several  days  ago, 
for  the  purpose  of  replying  to  some  arguments  advanced  in  a 
very  ingenious  and  well-considered  speech  from  the  gentleman 
from  Connecticut,  [Mr.  FERRY.]  I  desire  to  begin  my  re 
marks  to-day  by  a  quotation  from  the  philosopher  and  poet, 
Coleridge,  which  I  will  thank  the  Clerk  to  read  for  me." 

The  Clerk  read  as  follows  : 

"  An  American  commander,  who  had  deserved  and  received 
the  highest  honors  which  his  grateful  country,  through  her  as 
sembled  representatives,  could  bestow  upon  him,  once  said  to 

(179) 


180         HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

me,  with  a  sigh,  '  In  an  evil  hour  for  my  country  did  the  French 
and  Spaniards  abandon  Louisiana  to  the  United  States.  We 
were  not  sufficiently  a  country  before  ;  and  should  we  ever  be 
mad  enough  to  drive  the  English  from  Canada  and  her  other 
North  American  Provinces,  we  shall  soon  cease  to  be  a  country 
at  all.  Without  local  attachment,  without  national  honor,  we 
shall  resemble  a  swarm  of  insects  that  settle  on  the  fruits  of 
the  earth  to  corrupt  and  consume  them,  rather  than  men  who 
love  and  cleave  to  the  land  of  their  forefathers.  After  a  shape 
less  anarchy,  and  a  series  of  civil  wars,  we  shall  at  last  be 
formed  into  many  countries,  unless  the  vices  engendered  in  the 
process  should  demand  further  punishment,  and  we  should  pre 
viously  fall  beneath  the  despotism  of  some  military  adventurer, 
like  a  lion,  consumed  by  an  inward  disease,  prostrate  and  help 
less  beneath  the  beak  and  talons  of  a  vulture,  or  yet  meaner 
bird  of  prey.'  " 

The  distinguished  commander  there  referred  to,  Mr.  Chair 
man,  was  Decatur.  No  one  can  read  that, declaration  without 
feeling  some  disposition  to  inquire  whether  we  are  about  to 
realize  its  fulfillment.  The  animosities  that  exist  between  the 
two  sections  of  the  Confederacy,  the  discord  that  reigned  for 
seven  long  weeks  on  this  floor,  are  fearful  tokens  of  a  deep- 
seated  disorder  in  our  political  system. 

My  object  to-day  is  to  inquire  how  far  my  constituents  and 
the  people  with  whom  they  are  associated  are  responsible  for 
the  existing  condition  of  things.  Mississippi,  sir,  has  grown 
up  under  this  Federal  Union.  There  is  not,  within  her  limits, 
a  proprietor  who  does  not  hold  his  home  under  a  grant  from 
the  Federal  Government.  Her  noble  university,  and  her  com 
mon  schools,  are  all  established  by  donations  from  the  public 
domain,  which  she  has  received,  in  common  with  all  the  new 
States.  It  is  true,  that  in  the  special  and  appreciable  advant 
ages  of  Federal  legislation — such  as  discriminations  in  favor 
of  industrial  pursuits,  and  commercial  enterprise,  and  the  re 


181 

turns  of  taxation,  in  the  form  of  Government  expenditures — 
she  receives  far  less  than  an  average  share.  She  has  no  shipb 
to  participate  in  the  monopoly  granted  to  American  vessels  cf 
the  coasting  trade,  and  the  benefit  of  tonnage  duties  in  their 
favor  in  the  foreign  trade.  Her  population  have  no  fishing  or 
other  bounties  from  the  National  Treasury  ;  and  the  tariff  on 
imports  does  not  operate  to  protect  the  productions  of  her  in 
dustry.  She  has  no  army  of  contractors  or  Federal  officers ; 
nor  are  there  any  public  buildings  of  imperial  magnificence 
constructed  by  the  Government  within  her  limits.  But  she  is 
prosperous ;  and  the  heart  of  her  people  beats  truer  to  the 
Union  than  to  their  own  tranquillity.  Nor  will  she  be  driven 
from  her  devotion,  except  by  causes  which  she  has  not  created, 
and  by  consequences  for  which  she  is  not  responsible.  Mis 
sissippi  has  never  declared  herself  in  favor  of  disunion,  per  se. 
She  will  not  make  that  declaration  until  she  becomes  convinced 
that  her  sister  States  north  are  deliberately  determined  to  en 
danger  her  internal  and  social  institutions,  or  to  impair  her  dig 
nity  and  equality  as  a  confederate  State. 

Now,  sir,  I  should  not  be  candid  if  I  did  not  say  that  there 
are  many,  perhaps  a  majority,  in  my  State  who  do  not  speak 
with  the  same  reserve  and  caution  as  I  am  doing  on  this  occa 
sion.  The  obvious  and  unmistakable  tokens  of  design  in  the 
long-continued  and  crafty  agitation  of  this  slavery  question, 
have  produced  alienation  and  distrust.  It  is  a  unanimous  sei» 
timent  in  the  South  that  the  existence  of  this  Republican  or 
ganization  is  a  standing  menace  to  her  peace  and  security,  and 
a  standing  insult  to  her  character.  More  especially  have  the 
recent  events  in  Virginia,  the  discordant  proceedings  of  this 
House,  and  the  angry  discussion  on  the  Helper  book,  created 
a  tone  and  tendency  in  the  public  feeling  which  must  tell  un 
happily  on  the  political  transactions  of  our  country  for  a  long 
series  of  years. 

I  was  pained,  during  that  discussion,  to  hear  the  distin- 
16 


182        HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

guished  gentleman  from  Ohio  [Mr.  CORWIN]  ask,  in  a  tone  of 
levity  which  evinced  how  lightly  he  esteemed  the  temper  of  our 
people,  "Why,  gentlemen,  can  a  small  book  like  the  Helper 
Compend  endanger  your  proud  institutions  ?"  Sir,  a  million 
such  books  could  riot,  for  an  instant,  affect  the  South,  but  for 
the  conviction  that  it  represents  and  embodies  the  sentiments 
of  a  large  mass  of  the  Northern  people.  You,  gentlemen,  who 
have  disclaimed  and  repudiated  its  practical  recommendations, 
do  not  deny,  I  believe  you  all  admit,  that  the  fundamental 
doctrine  of  the  book — that  slavery  is  a  great  moral,  social, 
and  political  wrong,  to  be  opposed  by  the  Government  every 
where  and  under  all  circumstances,  by  all  constitutional  means, 
its  extension  to  be  prohibited,  and  the  powers  of  this  Govern 
ment  to  be  applied  to  confine  it  with  a  view  to  its  extinction — 
is  the  predominant  opinion  of  a  large  mass  of  the  Northern 
people ;  that  it  infects  their  literature,  pervades  their  juris 
prudence,  is  inculcated  in  their  theology,  controls  their  local 
legislation,  and  constitutes,  this  day,  the  sole  creed  of  a  politi 
cal  party  which  commands  a  majority  of  States,  and  over 
whelming  majorities  in  States  at  the  North. 

Now,  sir,  this  is  a  portentous  fact ;  for  a  moral  sentiment 
thus  diffused  among  the  majority  of  a  great  people  will  work 
itself  out  into  practical  action,  and  the  law — fundamental  or 
statute — which  obstructs  its  progress  to  development  must  yield 
before  it  or  be  overborne  by  it. 

Sir,  institutions  and  constitutions  and  laws  and  governments 
are  at  last  but  external  structures,  whose  roots  are  in  the  moral 
and  intellectual  life  of  the  people  for  whom  they  exist ;  and 
any  revolution  in  that  moral  and  mental  life  must  have  its  cor 
responding  effect  upon  institutions  subject  to  its  influence. 

Now,  sir,  among  a  great,  earnest,  and  religious  people, 
whose  moral  and  religious  conviction  is  that  slavery  is  "a  sin 
against  God  and  a  crime  against  humanity,"  in  the  language 
of  the  gentleman  from  Connecticut,  [Mr.  FERRY,]  I  ask  what 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.         183 

countenance  or  support  will  be  given  to  a  Constitution  which 
sanctions  that  sin,  or  to*  institutions  which  uphold  and  establish 
that  crime  ?  Let,  sir,  the  party  which  represents  this  sentiment 
get  possession  of  this  Government,  intrench  itself  in  all  its  de 
partments,  arm  itself  with  its  power,  and  I  ask  if  the  bar 
riers  of  the  Constitution,  the  forms  of  law,  the  obligations  of 
humanity,  and  the  sovereignty  of  the  States  will  not  all  melt 
down  in  its  fiery  path  ?  Is  it  strange,  sir,  that  our  peopk 
should  think  of  withdrawing  their  imperiled  institutions  front 
the  sweep  of  this  fanatical  revolution  ?  And  yet,  sir,  if  a 
Southern  gentleman,  from  a  heart  oppressed  with  gloomy  fore 
bodings  for  his  country,  expresses  any  such  sentiment  upon 
this  floor,  forthwith  these  Republican  gentlemen — ay,  sir,  and 
grave  Senators — seize  upon  it,  tear  it  from  its  context,  mis 
represent  the  spirit  which  prompted  its  utterance,  and  send  it 
forth  grouped  with  other  expressions  similarly  garbled,  to 
arouse  passion,  inflame  prejudice,  and  madden  fanaticism. 

Sir,  the  calamity  of  the  times  is,  that  the  people  of  the 
North  do  not  understand  the  people  of  the  South  ;  and  it  is  to 
the  interest  of  a  certain  class  of  politicians  to  perpetuate  the 
misunderstanding. 

The  gentleman  from  Connecticut,  sir,  in  his  speech  a  few 
days  since,  repeated  the  assertion  of  the  gentleman  from  Ohio, 
fMr.  CORWIN,]  that  it  was  the  policy  of  the  founders  of 
our  Republic  to  prevent  the  establishment  of  slavery  in  new 
communities.  In  my  opinion,  a  greater  error  was  never  com 
mitted  upon  this  floor.  My  own  State  is  a  standing  refutation 
of  the  proposition.  Sir,  slavery  exists  this  day  in  Mississippi 
by  the  encouragement — certainly  with  the  consent — of  this 
Federal  Government  when  it  was  in  the  hands  of  the  founders 
of  our  Republic.  By  the  act  of  1798,  the  President  was 
authorized  to  extend  over  the  Mississippi  Territory,  the  same  / 
Government  which  existed  northwest  of  the  Ohio,  excepting  y 
the  last  clause  of  the  famous  ordinance  prohibiting  slavery ; 


184  HELPER  S    IMPENDING    CRISIS    DISSECTED. 

and  that  was  repealed.  And  upon  the  motion,  of  Mr. 
Thatcher,  of  Massachusetts,  to  protect  what  he  called  "  the 
rights  of  man,"  the  Wilmot-proviso  principle  w;is  proposed  to 
be  extended  over  Mississippi,  and  received  at  first  but  twelve 
•votes,  and  upon  the  last  proposition  but  one  vote.  Now,  sir, 
this  seems  to  me  to  be  a  legislative  declaration  to  exclude  the 
conclusion  that  there  was  any  desire  upon  the  part  of  the 
founders  of  our  Republic  to  prevent  the  establishment  of 
slavery  in  new  communities.  It  certainly  displays  the  con 
siderate  caution  which  then  existed  on  this  subject.  It  shows 
that  there  was  no  disposition  on  the  part  of  the  founders  of 
our  Republic  to  interfere  with  the  delicate  relation  in  new 
Territories;  and  it  would  have  been  a  policy  of  peace  had  this 
precedent  been  followed  in  all  subsequent  legislation.  This 
act  shows  that  the  United  States  gave  their  free  and  spontane 
ous  consent  that  slaves  might  be  carried  and  held  in  Missis 
sippi  as  property,  and  that  her  freemen  were,  at  the  proper 
time,  to  form  an  independent  government,  and  become  a 
member  of  the  Union  on  equal  terms  with  the  other  parties 
to  the  compact.  Now,  sir,  Mississippi  stands  here  to-day, 
and  finds  slavery,  through  the  action  of  this  Federal  Govern 
ment,  an  integral  and  live  element  in  her  social  system,  inter 
fused  with  the  social  relations,  the  industrial  pursuits,  the 
investments  of  capital,  and  the  political  forms  of  her  people. 

Gentlemen,  I  ask,  have  you  the  right — I  do  not  mean  the 
constitutional  power — have  you  the  moral  right,  is  it  just,  is  it 
tolerant,  to  reverse  the  action  of  this  Government  and  embark 
it  in  a  career  of  hostility  to  an  institution  which  the  action  of 
this  Government  has  made  the  basis  upon  whose  durability  our 
social  and  political  order  is  constituted  ?  The  condition  of 
Mississippi  is  that  of  other  new  States  in  the  South  and  South 
west. 

The  gentletnan  from  Connecticut  justifies   this   policy  of  his 
party,  on  the  ground  that  our  institution   is  regarded   by  the 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.         185 

people  of  the  North  as  " hateful  to  God  and  unjust  to  man;" 
that  "it  cannot  exist  of  natural  right."  But  when  he  seeks 
to  give  the  authority  upon  which  he  bases  this  dogma,  he  takes 
particular  pains  to  lodge  it  in  that  most  secret  place  in  all 
nature,  "the  instincts  of  the  human  heart"  and  the  dictates 
of  natural  reason. 

Mr.  FERRY. — An  enlightened  conscience. 

Mr.  LAMAR. — Yes,  sir  ;  the  dictates  of  an  enlightened  con 
science.  Sir,  he  almost  repeated  the  proposition  of  the 
gentleman  from  Ohio,  [Mr.  BINGHAM,]  in  a  debate  during  the 
last  Congress,  when  he  said:  "I  appeal  to  your  immortal- 
spirit,  can  you  be  rightfully  reduced  to  slavery  ?"  The  gentle 
man  from  Connecticut,  following  that  line  of  argument,  asks  : 
"  Is  there  a  man  upon  this  floor  who  would  not  rather  die  than 
be  a  bondman  ?  who  would  not  rather  see  his  little  son  dead 
in  his  coffin  than  see  that  son  sold  into  slavery  ?" 

Well,  sir,  I  answer  the  gentleman,  (and  I  presume  it  is  just 
as  he  wishes  me  to  answer,)  that  I  cannot  be  rightfully  reduced 
to  slavery  ;  nor  can  you,  sir ;  nor  can  the  gentleman  himself. 
But,  sir,  does  it  follow  that  men  are  right-angled  triangles — 
that  whatever  is  true  of  one  is  predicable  of  all  men  ?  Will 
these  gentlemen  say  that  that  is  the  test  by  which  the  rightful- 
ness  of  a  civil  regulation  is  to  be  determined  ?  If  so,  I  will 
ask  these  gentlemen  a  question :  "I  appeal  to  your  immortal 
spirit,"  can  you  rightfully  be  reduced  to  a  felon's  cell  ?  I  ask 
the  gentleman,  "  Is  there  a  man  upon  this  floor  who  would  not 
rather  die  than  be"  a  felon  ?  who  "  would  not  rather  see  his 
little  son  dead  in  his  coffin"  than  to  see  that  son  torn  from  his 
mother's  embrace,  and  doomed  to  imprisonment  for  life  with 
hard  labor,  the  associate  of  convicts  and  criminals  ? 

Mr.  FERRY. — Does  the  gentleman  wish  an  answer  ? 
Mr.  LAMAR. — Not  just  now.    Sir,  they  can  give  me  but  one 
answer,  and  that  is  the  answer  which  I  give  to  their  question. 
And  yet  there  are  hundreds  of  thousands  of  our  fellow-citizens, 
16* 


186        HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

in  whom  the  same  immortal  spirit  resides,  who  are  reduced  to 
that  ignominious  condition  ;  and  these  gentlemen  justify  the 
ordinances  and  statutes  which  condemn  them  to  it ;  not  be 
cause  they  are  not  "created  with  equal,  inherent,  natural,  and 
inalienable  rights,"  but  simply  because  the  order  and  well-being 
of  society  require  that  they  shall  be  deprived  of  that  liberty 
and  equality  which,  in  our  hands,  is  such  a  priceless,  peerless 
blessing.  But  I  again  "appeal  to  the  gentleman's  immortal 
spirit."  I  ask  him,  can  he  be  made  subservient  and  obedient 
to  another's  will — his  intellectual  and  moral  nature  subject  to 
the  restraint  and  control  of  another's  authority  ?  Sir,  these 
gentlemen  are  ready  to  fight  for  the  liberty  of  private  judg 
ment.  And  yet  all  the  young  men  of  the  country,  under 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  are  reduced  to  that  condition,  not 
because  their  rights  are  not  natural,  inherent,  and  inalienable, 
but  simply  because  the  interests  of  society  require  that  they 
should  be  kept  under  this  personal  restraint  until  they  are  fitted 
for  political  and  social  equality. 

But,  sir,  I  appeal  again  "to  the  gentleman's  immortal 
spirit,"  and  I  ask  him,  can  he  rightfully  be  deprived  of  all 
political  power,  even  the  right  of  voting ;  every  civil  privilege, 
even  of  suing,  in  a  Government  which  acts  upon  every  relation 
of  his  being,  which  taxes  his  person  and  taxes  his  property, 
and  affects,  for  weal  or  woe,  the  destinies  of  his  posterity  ? 
The  gentleman  from  Ohio  [Mr.  BINGHAM]  has  already  justified 
rebellion  in  Kansas  "to  maintain  the  natural  right  of  self-gov 
ernment  ;"  and  the  gentleman  from  Connecticut  [Mr.  FERRY] 
has  asserted  that  one  of  the  objects  of  our  Revolution  was  to 
establish  "universal  equality  in  political  rights."  Yet,  sir, 
one  half  of  our  adult  population — the  better  half,  who  have 
the  same  immortal  nature,  and  a  far  purer  nature  than  ours — 
are  reduced  to  that  condition  ;  are  deprived  of  every  political 
right,  of  every  civil  privilege.  Their  existence  is  ignored  by 
the  laws  of  some  States,  and  their  very  persons,  in  many  in- 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.         187 

stances,  are  subject  to  the  custody  of  coarser  and  inferior 
natures.  And  these  gentlemen  justify  all  this,  not  upon  the 
ground  that  \yoman 's  nature  is  not  immortal,  or  that  her  rights 
are  less  inherent  and  inalienable,  but  simply  because  the  neces 
sities  of  society  demand  her  consecration  to  those  high  and 
noble  responsibilities  which  unfit  her  for  the  exercise  of  political 
rights. 

Now,  I  put  the  question,  and  I  want  it  answered,  whether 
female  dependence  or  the  immaturity  of  youth  constitute  any 
better  reason  for  the  privation  of  political  and  social  equality, 
for  the  infliction  of  civil  disabilities  and  personal  restraints, 
than  the  ignorance,  superstition,  the  mental  and  moral  debase 
ment  which  centuries  of  barbarism  have  entailed  upon  a  servile 
race  ?  I  want  to  know,  sir,  if  the  good  of  society,  its  interests 
and  order,  as  a  whole,  does  not  require  that  this  race  should  be 
retained  in  its  existing  relation ;  whether  the  institution  does 
not  stand  vindicated  by  every  principle  upon  which  human 
institutions  repose  ? 

Mr.  Chairman,  the  mistake  of  these  gentlemen  is  this :  that 
men  are  to  be  governed  by  certain  fixed,  inflexible,  invariable 
rules,  deduced  from  natural  reason ;  and  that  a  government 
which  is  applicable  to  a  race  of  intelligent  white  men  can  be 
forced  upon  States  consisting  of  two  distinct  races,  opposite 
in  color,  and  differing  as  widely  in  character,  disposition,  moral 
and  mental  habits,  as  are  the  opposing  characteristics  of  bar 
barism  and  civilization. 

But,  sir,  shall  we  always  be  disputing  about  these  "natural 
rights  of  man"  and  the  foundations  of  society  ?  Are  we  to 
have  no  time-honored  institutions,  no  recognized  precedents, 
no  grand  maxims  of  common  law,  growing  up  around  our 
Constitution,  and  almost  as  sacred  as  the  Constitution  itself  ? 
Is  our  grand  Republic,  its  destiny,  its  administration,  its 
policy,  to  be  forever  floating  hither  and  thither  upon  the  un 
certain  billows  of  this  beautiful  but  dangerous  sea  of  political 


188        HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

metaphysics  ?  Are  these  gentlemen  prepared  to  say  that  every 
institution  of  society  must  stand  or  fall,  according  as  it  con 
forms,  or  fails  to  conform,  to  some  principle  of  natural  right, 
deduced  by  each  generation  from  natural  reason  ?  Where, 
sir,  would  such  a  principle  stop  ?  There  are  philosophers,  and 
I  believe  they  are  correct,  who  say  that  the  right  of  individual 
property  cannot  be  deduced  from  the  natural  reason  of  man. 

But,  sir,  this  principle  is  not  limited  in  its  action  to  political 
forms ;  it  institutes  revolt  in  all  the  elements  of  the  social 
system,  and  raises  impious  war  against  the  recognized  ordi 
nances  and  express  commandments  of  God.  The  gentleman 
from  Connecticut  [Mr.  FERRY]  stated,  the  other  day,  that 
there  was  no  warrant  in  the  language  of  inspiration  for  the 
relation  of  master  and  slave  as  it  exists  in  the  South.  Now, 
sir,  I  am  not  going  to  quote  the  Bible  upon  these  gentlemen  ; 
but  I  propose  to  give  them  the  language  of  a  learned  Northern 
divine,  the  president  of  a  northern  college,  an  advocate  of 
immediate  abolition,  whose  book  on  moral  science  is  the  text 
book  of  your  northern  colleges,  academies,  and  schools.  Dr. 
Wayland,  in  his  letters  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  speaking  of 
the  25th  chapter  of  Leviticus,  in  which  the  Hebrews  are  com 
manded  to  buy  the  children  of  the  strangers  among  them,  uses 
the  following  language : 

"  The  authority  to  take  them  as  slaves  seems  to  be  a  part  of 
this  original,  peculiar,  and  anomalous  grant." 

I  presume,  Mr.  Chairman,  none  but  an  Abolitionist  would 
characterize  a  grant  of  God  as  anomalous. 

Again  : 

"I  grant  at  once  that  the  Hebrews  held  slaves  from  the 
time  of  the  conquest  of  Canaan,  and  that  Abraham  and  the 
patriarchs  held  them  many  centuries  before.  I  grant,  also, 
Moses  enacted  laws  with  special  reference  to  that  relation." 

I  hope  I  have  the  attention  of  the  gentleman  from  Connecti 
cut,  [Mr.  FERRY]  to  the  next  sentence : 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.         189 

"I  wonder,"  says  Dr.  Waylaiid,  "that  any  should  have  the 
hardihood  to  deny  so  plain  a  matter  of  record.  I  should  as 
soon  deny  the  delivery  of  the  ten  commandments  to  Moses." 

Mr.  FERRY. — Will  the  gentleman  yield  to  me  a  moment  ? 

Mr.  LAMAR. — It  is  this  stupid  hour  rule  that  prevents  my 
yielding  to  the  gentleman. 

Mr.  FERRY. — I  do  not  wish  to  interrupt  the  gentleman 
further  than  to  say,  that  I  will  take  another  opportunity  to 
answer  him. 

Mr.  LAMAR. — Sir,  the  gentleman  said  that  the  sentiment  of 
all  Christendom  was  repugnant  to  the  institution  of  slavery. 
Christianity  came  into  the  world  when  the  relation  of  master 
and  slave  was  one  of  cruelty  and  hostility.  "  Our  slaves  are 
our  enemies,"  was  the  observation  of  the  elder  Cato.  How 
did  our  Saviour  and  his  apostles  treat  that  relation  ?  1  pro 
pose,  sir,  no  views  of  my  own ;  but  I  will  give  an  extract  from 
Dr.  Wayland's  Elements  of  Moral  Science,  the  text-book  of 
your  northern  schools.  In  an  argument,  seeking  to  prove 
"the  moral  principles  of  the  Gospel  to  be  directly  subversive 
of  the  principles  of  slavery,"  he  makes  the  following  admis 
sion  : 

"The  Gospel  neither  commands  masters  to  manumit  their 
slaves  nor  authorizes  slaves  to  free  themselves  from  their 
masters ;  and,  also,  it  goes  further,  and  prescribes  the  duties 
suited  to  both  parties  in  their  present  condition." 

Again : 

"  The  duty  of  slaves  is  also  explicitly  made  known  in  the 
Bible.  They  are  bound  to  obedience,  fidelity,  submission,  and 
respect  to  their  masters,  not  only  to  the  good  and  kind,  but 
also  to  the  unkind  and  froward ;  not,  however,  on  the  ground 
of  duty  to  man,  but  on  the  ground  of  duly  to  God." — Way- 
land's  Elements  of  Moral  Science,  pages  225  and  229,  edition 
in  the  Congressional  Library. 

This  is  abolition  authority,  I  want  it  understood. 


X 


190         HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

Now,  sir,  the  teachings  of  the  Apostles,  as  they  are  here 
made  known  by  Dr.  Wayland,  were  the  teachings  of  the 
Christian  Church.  The  Church  was  itself  a  slaveholder,  and 
Christian  kings  and  princes  followed  its  example.  There  is  in 
Hampton  Court  at  this  day,  the  marble  bust  of  the  favorite 
negro  slave  of  William  III.,  Prince  of  Orange — one  of  the 
cherubim  of  English  liberty — with  a  carved  collar  around  his 
neck,  with  a  padlock  upon  it,  and  in  every  respect  made  like  a 
dog's  collar. 

But,  sir,  there  is  one  authority  which  I  came  near  forgetting 
to  read,  and  which  I  suppose  stands  higher  with  those  gentle 
men  than  even  Dr.  Wayland.  It  is  a  work  which  is  an  elabo 
rate  exposition  of  certain  abstract  principles  of  New  England 
theology  and  politics,  albeit  in  a  narrative  and  dramatic  form. 
I  read  from  the  "  Minister's  Wooing,"  by  Mrs.  Harriet 
Beecher  Stowe.  In  this  novel,  which  would  stand  unequalled 
as  a  work  of  fiction  but  for  the  anti-slavery  bigotry  which  runs 
like  a  coarse  black  thread  through  the  otherwise  admirable 
tissue  of  thought  and  feeling,  she  puts  in  the  m^ath  of  the 
erudite  and  learned  Dr.  Hopkins — the  hero,  by  the  way,  of 
the  tale — the  following  answer  to  Mr.  Marvyn's  question  : 

"  Was  there  not  an  express  permission  given  to  Israel  to 
buy  and  hold  slaves  as  of  old  ?" 

Says  the  Doctor : 

"  Doubtless ;  but  many  permissions  were  given  to  them 
which  were  local  and  temporary ;  for  if  we  hold  them  to  apply 
to  the  human  race,  the  Turks  might  quote  the  Bible  for  making 
slaves  of  us,  if  they  could ;  and  the  Algerines  have  the  Scrip 
tures  all  on  their  side  ;  and  our  own  blacks  at  some  future 
time,  if  they  can  get  the  power,  might  justify  themselves  in 
making  slaves  of  us."  [Page  174.] 

Now,  sir,  I  do  not  wish  the  point  of  my  argument  misunder 
stood.  I  am  not  seeking  to  show  a  Bible  sanction  of  Southern 
slavery  is  it  now  exists.  I  do  not  ask  your  assent  to-  that.  My 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.         191 

point  is,  that  the  principle  with  which  you  are  warring  upon 
us,  is  condemned  by  the  ordinance  of  God  and  the  language 
of  Scripture.  I  say  that  God  would  never,  even  "for  local  and 
temporary  purposes,"  have  given  permission  for  that  which 
comes  in  conflict  with  those  immutable  principles  of  natural 
right  of  which  he  is  the  author.  When  he  established  slavery 
among  the  Jews,  he  established  the  principle  that  there  may 
be  conditions  and  circumstances  under  which  slavery  is  not 
"hateful  to  God  or  unjust  to  man."  Nor  does  this  argument 
justify  Turkish  slavery,  Algerine  slavery,  or  white  slavery ;  it 
justifies  no  sort  of  slavery  except  that  which  justifies  itself  by 
the  rightfulness  of  its  own  conditions  and  circumstances.  And 
this  is  the  ground  upon  which  we  of  the  South  place  our  cher 
ished  institutions.  We  maintain  that  these  justifying  circum 
stances  do  exist  in  relation  to  our  institution  of  negro  slavery. 
They  consist  in  the  unfitness  of  the  black  race  for  a  condition 
higher  than  that  of  slavery.  Our  proposition  is,  that  when 
these  two  races  are  brought  into  contact,  the  supremacy  of  the 
white  man  must  be  acknowledged,  and  his  right  to  govern  both 
races  with  reference  to  the  happiness  of  both.  This  is  the 
principle  upon  which,  until  recently,  the  legislation  of  all  your 
Northern  States  was  founded.  They  all  asserted  the  supremacy 
of  the  white  man,  and  the  subordination  of  the  black  man. 

The  gentleman  from  Connecticut  [Mr.  FERRY]  stated  that 
the  object  of  our  Revolution  was  to  establish  "universal 
equality  in  political  rights,  and  the  indefeasible  title  of  all  men 
to  social  and  civil  liberty."  He  ought  to  have  had  the  candor 
to  have  held  up  his  own  State  to  public  reprehension  for  vio 
lating  this  principle  ;  for,  in  Connecticut,  he  knows  the  negro 
has  neither  political  nor  social  equality ;  that  he  is  deprived  of 
the  right  of  voting ;  that  he  is  legally  incompetent  as  a  wit 
ness  against  white  men,  and  excluded  from  the  right  of  inter 
marriage  with  whites.  Those  gentlemen  guard  sedulously 
enough  against  all  contact  of  this  race  with  themselves  or  their 


192  HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

own  class  of  society.  I  could  not  insult  that  gentleman  more 
grossly  than  to  ask  him  if  he  is  willing  to  throw  open  the 
sacred  precincts  of  his  family  and  allow  the  negro  to  come  in 
as  an  equal  member.  No,  sir;  bat  he  is  fa? freeing  his  labor, 
and,  possibly,  for  giving  him  the  right  of  voting,  and  by  that 
means  bringing  him  in  contact  and  equality,  not  with  himself, 
but  with  the  laboring  white  freemen  of  the  North;  and  why 
ouch  a  proposition  does  not  kindle  a  consuming  flame  of  indig 
nation  among  those  laboring  freemen  of  the  North,  is  one  cf 
those  political  phenomena  for  which  I  will  not  undertake  to 
account. 

Sir,  the  only  cause  of  the  difference  between  the  legislation 
of  Northern  and  Southern  States  upon  the  subject  of  slavery 
is,  that  the  negroes  are  not  sufficient  in  numbers  at  the  North 
to  make  it  necessary  to  reduce  them  to  the  condition  of  do 
mestic  servitude,  while  with  us  that  condition  is  indispensable 
to  the  good  order  and  welfare  of  the  whole  society.  Arid  it  is 
demonstrable — and  I  will  make  it  so  appear,  if  I  have  time — 
that  the  negro  in  the  Southern  States  has  reached  a  moral  and 
intellectual  development  superior  to  his  race  in  any  other  posi 
tion  in  which  he  has  been  placed.  That  he  contributes  more, 
in  his  present  condition,  to  the  good  of  mankind,  their  moral 
and  intellectual  progress,  than  in  any  other  position  in  which 
he  has  been  placed.  What  was  his  condition  when  he  was  first 
brought  here  ?  Look  at  him  upon  his  native  continent.  The 
most  humane  explorers  of  the  African  continent  tell  us  that 
they  exist  there  without  social  or  political  order,  without 
modesty  or  shame, — some  of  the  tribes  not  even  reaching  the 
civilization  of  the  fig-leaf. 

I  propose,  just  here,  to  read  from  Hegel's  Philosophy  of 
History,  an  imperishable  monument  of  human  genius,  in  which 
the  author  holds  "freedom  to  be  the  essence  of  humanity,  and 
slavery  the  condition  of  injustice."  And  what  does  he  say  ? 

"  The  negro,  as  already  observed,  exhibits  the  natural  man 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.         193 

in  his  completely  wild  and  untamed  state.  We  must  lay  aside 
all  thought  of  reverence  and  morality,  all  that  we  call  feeling, 
if  we  would  rightly  comprehend  him.  There  is  nothing  har 
monious  with  humanity  to  be  found  in  this  type  of  character." 
[Page  97.] 

"  The  undervaluing  of  humanity  among  them  reaches  an  in 
credible  degree  of  intensity.  Tyranny  is  regarded  as  no  wrong, 
and  cannibalism  is  looked  upon  as  quite  customary  and  proper." 
*  *  *  *  n  rpke  devouring  of  human  flesh  is  altogether 
consonant  with  the  general  principles  of  the  African  race.  To 
the  sensual  negro,  human  flesh  is  but  an  object  of  sense — mere 
flesh."  [Pages  99-100.] 

After  describing  many  other  characteristics,  the  author  con 
cludes  "  slavery  to  have  been  the  occasion  of  the  increase  of 
human  feeling  among  the  negroes.  The  doctrine  which  we 
deduce  from  this  condition  of  slavery  among  the  negroes,  and 
which  constitutes  the  only  side  of  the  question  that  has  an  in 
terest  for  our  inquiry,  is,  that  which  we  deduce  from  the  idea, 
viz.  :  that  the  'natural  condition'  itself  is  one  of  absolute  and 
thorough  injustice,  contravention  of  the  right  and  just.  Every 
intermediate  grade  between  this  and  the  realization  of  a  rational 
state  retains,  as  might  be  expected,  elements  and  aspects  of  in 
justice.  Therefore,  we  find  slavery  even  in  the  Greek  and 
Roman  States,  as  we  do  serfdom,  down  to  the  latest  times. 
But  thus  existing  in  a  State,  slavery  is  itself  a  phase  of  ad 
vance  from  the  merely  isolated  sensual  existence,  a  phase  of 
education,  a  mode  of  becoming  participant  in  a  higher  mor 
ality,  and  the  culture  connected  with  it."  [Page  104.] 

Now,  sir,  who  will  say  that  the  three  hundred  thousand  ne 
groes,  whose  character  is  thus  described  by  this  German  author, 
brought  over  to  [his  continent,  would  ever  have  had  their  con 
dition  improved,  or  would  ever  have  secured  to  themselves  the 
benefits  they  now  enjoy,  had  they  been  left  in  their  "natural 
condition?"  At  that  time  there  were  two  barbarous  races 
17 


194         HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

which  came  in  contact,  upon  this  continent,  with  the  European. 
The  one  was  the  African,  occupying  the  lowest  point  in  the 
scale  of  human  existence ;  the  other  was  the  noble  Indian  race, 
superior  to  the  African  in  intelligence,  in  moral  and  physical 
development.  Free  as  the  wild  bird  of  his  native  forests,  bold 
as  the  stream  which  dashed  down  his  mountain  gorges,  generous 
as  the  bounteous  nature  around  him,  the  American  Indian  goes 
into  history  the  poetic  embodiment  of  savage  life.  What  has 
been  his  fate,  compared  with  that  of  the  African  ? 

What  has  become  of  the  Narragansetts,  Pequots,  Senecas, 
Oneidas,  and  Delawares  ?  Driven  back  by  the  advancing  wave 
of  European  civilization  to  continually  contracting  circles,  with 
diminished  means  of  subsistence,  into  degradation,  wretched 
ness,  and  extinction. 

The  African,  with  all  its  foulness,  with  all  its  prosaic  vulgar 
ities,  domesticated  and  disciplined,  has  been  by  that  same  wave 
borne  up  higher  and  higher,  until  now  it  furnishes  inspiration 
for  Northern  song,  heroes  and  heroines  for  Northern  romances, 
and  is  invited  by  Northern  statesmen  into  their  charmed  circle 
of  political  and  social  equality.  Not  just  yet,  gentlemen,  if 
you  please.  He  is  not  your  equal ;  and  history  proves  that 
even  when  he  has  reached  this  point  of  civilization,  if  you  take 
from  under  him  the  institution  which  has  borne  him  up  to  it, 
he  relapses  into  his  pristine  barbarism.  I  intended  to  show* 
this  by  detailed  references  to  the  French  islands,  the  English 
Antilles,  and  other  countries  in  which  slavery  has  been  abolished. 
I  could  have  shown  that  in  Hayti,  where  the  negro  was  left 
with  all  the  endowments  of  a  civilization  which  vied  with  that 
of  Rome,  in  gorgeous  magnificence,  you  see  now  nothing  but 
poverty,  vice,  indolence,  and  all  the  other  signs  of  a  rapidly 
approaching  barbarism.  I  intended  to  show  from  anti-slavery 
authority  that  the  British  Antilles  have  disappointed  every 
promise  and  frustrated  every  hope  that  accompanied  the  act  of 
emancipation.  I  intended  to  show  the  condition  of  the  free 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.         195 

colored  population  in  Peru,  as  exhibited  by  a  most  intelligent 
German  traveler,  Yon  Tschudi,  whose  work  was  published 
among  the  "Choice  Reading"  of  the  anti-slavery  publishing 
house  of  Wiley  &  Putnam,  in  New  York. 

I  need  not  refer  to  Liberia.  The  gentleman  formerly  from 
Missouri  [Mr.  BLAIR],  has  demonstrated  on  this  floor  that 
Liberia  is  a  failure,  and  Africa  still  the  "house  of  bondage." 
The  distinguished  gentleman  from  Ohio  [Mr.  CORWIN]  has  ex 
pressed  some  doubt  about  that  matter,  but  he  can  certainly 
point  to  no  sign  of  an  advance  beyond  the  original  moral 
status  of  the  colony;  and,  sir,  if  it  does  not  show  signs  of  decay 
and  dissolution,  it  is  because  the  emigration  of  our  freed  ne 
groes  pours  constantly  into  the  shrunken  veins  of  its  sickly 
civilization  fresh  tides  of  moral  and  mental  life.  I  need  not 
refer  to  the  condition  of  the  free  negro  in  the  Northern  States. 
These  gentlemen  are  familiar  with  it.  One  thing  I  will  say, 
that  the  Census  returns  show  that  his  moral  and  physical  con 
dition  is  superior  in  the  South  to  what  it  is  in  the  North.  And 
if  freedom  to  the  individual  be&such  a  boon  and  blessing  to  the 
African,  Southern  slavery  has  done  more  in  this  respect  for  the 
race  than  Northern  abolitionism.  There  have  been  one  hun 
dred  thousand  more  emancipated  by  the  Southern  States  than 
have  been  emancipated  by  the  Northern  States  :  and  there  are 
•forty  thousand  free  negroes  living  in  the  South,  now,  more  than 
are  resident  in  the  Northern  States. 

If,  then,  we  show  that  the  condition  of  the  negro  at  the 
South  is  superior  to  his  condition  in  any  other  country,  and 
that  the  abolition  of  slavery  has  always  been  followed  by  im 
mediate  retrogression,  I  ask  of  what  has  humanity  to  complain 
against  the  institution  ? 

Sir,  another  argument  that  has  been  advanced  by  Northern 
gentlemen,  and  by  the  leader  of  their  party  is,  that  the  inter 
ests  of  the  white  race  require  the  exclusion  of  this  institution 
from  new  territory;  that  it  should  be  dedicated  to  free  soil, 


196        HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

and  to  the  freemen  of  the  North.  Now,  I  want  to  say,  in 
passing,  that  that  puts  out  of  view  every  consideration  of  hu 
manity  which  these  gentlemen  have  made  the  instrument  of  the 
fanaticism  that  has  hitherto  been  waged  against  us.  But  I  will 
pass  on.  How  do  the  interests  of  the  white  race  require  the 
restriction  of  slavery  ?  They  say  that  free  labor  is  dishonored 
by  its  contact  with  slave  labor.  How?  The  two  systems  co 
exist  under  our  Republic.  Look  at  labor  as  it  exists  at  the 
North — the  mighty  North — the  seat  of  commerce,  manufac 
tures,  mechanic  arts,  accumulated  wealth,  and  common  schools. 
Look  at  the  mighty  population  that  fills  that  vast  territory 
with  the  hum  of  its  free  industry.  The  toiling  millions  that 
constitute  the  substratum  on  which  this  splendid  fabric  of  free 
society  rears  its  aspiring  head !  Are  they  not  all  freemen  ? 
Is  not  each  one  of  them  the  equal  of  the  proudest  and  richest 
in  the  land, — tenacious  of  his  rights  and  proud  of  his  posi 
tion  ?  What,  tlio ugh  he  is  often  compelled  to  toil  in  mid-day, 
while  the  very  earth  is  melting  with  fervent  heat,  and  while  the 
negro  slave  is  resting  from  his  Work,  still  his  labor  is  dignified 
and  honorable,  because  it  is  free ;  and  although  commerce  may 
languish,  and  manufactures  go  into  decay,  and  the  wages  of 
labor  fall,  and  the  price  of  provisions  increase,  yet  he  can  hush 
the  mutterings  of  discontent  and  still  the  gnawings  of  hunger 
by  the  one  proud,  glorious  thought — the  dignity  of  labor.' 
Now,  how  is  this  labor  contaminated  by  the  existence  of 
Southern  slave  labor?  Sir,  our  negroes  are  working  under 
and  for  your  free  laborers  at  the  North.  They  furnish  them 
with  the  raw  material  on  which  this  free  labor  exercises  its 
skill  and  industry, — the  raw  material  which  is  the  very  basis 
of  your  commerce  and  manufacturing  enterprise. 

But  you  say  it  becomes  dishonored  by  coming  in  contact 
with  slave  labor  in  the  common  territory.  This  very  contact 
jxists  iii  the  South  :  and  is  labor  dishonored  there  ?  Why, 
according  to  the  estimate  of  these  gentlemen,  there  are  only 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.         197 

three  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  slaveholders  in  the  South : 
all  the  balance  are  non-slaveholding  laborers.  Mark  that! 
Now,  gentlemen,  universal  suffrage  exists  in  the  South.  Each 
one  of  these  three  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  slaveholders 
has  one  vote,  and  no  more.  Each  one  of  the  five  million  non- 
slaveholders  has  one  vote,  and  no  less.  These  latter,  then, 
have  the  overwhelming  majority.  Sir,  the  institution  is  in  the 
hollow  of  the  hand  of  the  non-slaveholder  of  the  South.  He 
has  but  to  close  his  hand,  and  the  institution  is  crushed.  He 
sees  its  effects  on  the  slave ;  he  feels  its  effects  on  himself. 
Sir,  if  these  effects  were  degrading,  why  not  throw  it  off,  when 
he  could  do  it  by  simply  depositing  a  ballot  in  a  senseless  urn  ? 
I  will  tell  you  why  he  does  not  do  it.  I  will  show  you  why  it 
is  that,  from  that  vast  body  of  independent,  voting  freemen, 
there  comes  up  not  one  whisper  of  disapprobation,  not  one 
murmur  of  discontent,  not  one  protest  against  its  morality,  its 
justice,  and  its  expediency.  It  is  because  there  is  no  class 
among  whom  negro  slavery  secures  such  wide-spread  blessings 
as  the  non-slaveholders  of  the  South.  There  has  never  been 
a  race  of  men  more  maligned  and  lied  about  than  that  very 
class  of  freemen  in  the  South.  I  know  them.  I  have  lived 
among  them,  and  have  felt  the  heart-warm  grasp  of  their  strong 
hands ;  and  I  tell  you,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  God's  sun  does  not 
shine  on  a  nobler,  prouder,  happier,  more  prosperous,  and  ele 
vated  class  of  people,  than  the  non-slaveholders  of  the  South. 
It  is  impossible,  from  the  very  nature  and  constitution  of  South 
ern  society,  that  it  should  be  otherwise. 

I  have  time  to  mention  only  one  fact,  among  others,  that 
shows  you  its  advantages  in  their  view.  Mr.  Webster,  in  one 
of  his  speeches,  spoke  of  the  ownership  of  land  as  constituting 
the  basis  of  free  government,  and  said  that  suffrage  should  be 
restricted  to  those  whose  property  gave  them  an  interest  in  the 
preservation  of  the  State.  Now,  I  do  not  think  that,  I  think 
that  an  honest,  intelligent  laboring  man  is  as  much  entitled  to 
17* 


198         HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

a  participation  in  the  Government  as  the  member  of  any  other 
class  of  society. 

Bnt  there  are  certain  moral  advantages  in 'favor  of  aland- 
owning  community.  Sir,  in  every  country,  and  in  every  age, 
the  proprietorship  of  the  soil  has  been  regarded  as  a  position 
of  dignity  and  of  personal  elevation.  Now,  sir,  that  is  the  posi 
tion  of  the  non-slaveholding  laborers  of  the  South.  They  are  a 
nation  of  landowners.  There  is  riot  such  a  body  of  landowners 
in  the  world  as  the  non-slaveholders  of  the  South.  Each  of 
them  feels  in  himself  a  pride  of  character,  an  elevation  of  posi 
tion  ;  and,  sir,  he  feels  that  he  is  not  merely  a  freeman,  he  is  a 
a  freeholder :  more  than  that,  he  is  a  gentleman.  You  talk 
about  free  labor  at  the  North  and  free  soil,  as  if  it  did  not 
exist  in  greater  purity  in  the  South  than  anywhere  else.  What 
you  call  "  operatives"  have  to  share  the  profits  of  their  labor  with 
capital,  and  it  is  hinted  that  capital  gets  the  lion's  share.  What 
we  call  "slaves"  are  owned  by  capital,  and  get  their  return 
only  in  food,  raiment,  shelter,  and  protecting  care.  But,  sir, 
true  free  labor  is  that  which  the  Southern  farmer,  with  his  own 
free  arm,  applies  to  his  own  soil,  allowing  neither  master,  capi 
talist,  nor  employer,  to  have  any  participation  in  its  profits. 
And,  sir,  what  are  those  profits  ?  Not  alone  the  crop  of  cot 
ton,  corn,  and  potatoes :  something  more  than  that.  When 
the  strong,  brave  man  drives  his  plowshare  through  the  fallow 
ground,  the  up-turned  sod  reveals  to  his  eye  that  which  is  richer 
to  him  than  the  golden  sands  of  California  : 

"  'Tis  the  sparkle  of  liberty" 

and  personal  independence.  Sir,  at  the  end  ot  the  year  he 
has  other  gains,  too,  that  his  labor  brings  him  :  the  industry 
and  honesty  of  the  father,  the  household  virtues  of  the  mother, 
the  intelligence  of  the  sons,  the  chastity  of  the  daughters, — 
there,  sir,  is  a  harvest  which  we  would  not  barter  for  this  wide 
world's  commerce,  and  all  its  honors  besides. 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.         199 

But,  sir,  let  us  see  what  this  institution  has  done  for  the  pro 
gress  of  mankind  ;  and  this  brings  me  to  the  third  class  of  men 
in  the  South  wjio  have  been  subject  to  misrepresentation.  I 
allude  to  the  Southern  planters.  I  have  but  a  moment  to 
spare,  and  I  will  allude  to  one  branch  of  Southern  industry  as 
an  illustration  of  the  whole, — I  mean  cotton  culture.  Some 
idea  of  the  importance  of  the  cotton  trade  to  the  civilized 
world  may  be  obtained  by  the  following  graphic  description  of 
its  influence  upon  Great  Britain,  from  the  pen  of  Macaulay ; 

"I  see  in  this  country  a  great  manufacturing  population 
drawing  the  materials  of  manufacture  from  a  limited  market. 
I  see  a  great  cotton  trade  carried  on,  which  furnishes  nearly 
two  million  people  with  food,  clothes,  and  firing ;  and  I  say 
that,  if  you  shut  out  slave-grown  cotton,  you  would  produce  a 
mass  of  misery  among  the  people  whom  Providence  has  com 
mitted  to  your  charge,  frightful  to  contemplate ;  you  would  in 
troduce  desolation  into  your  richly-flourishing  manufacturing 
districts ;  you  would  reduce  hundreds  on  hundreds  to  beggary 
and  destitution ;  you  would  risk  the  stability  of  your  institu 
tions  ;  and  when  you  had  done  all  this,  you  would  have  great 
reason  to  doubt  whether  you  had  conferred  any  great  benefits 
on  the  particular  class  for  whom  you  made  such  a  sacrifice," 

Now,  sir,  the  cotton  plant  grows  in  the  East  Indies.  It  has 
been  long  a  product  of  Bengal  and  Malabar.  It  grows  in  the 
West  Indies.  During  the  French  domination,  Hayti  exported 
a  larger  quantity  of  cotton  than  the  North  American  continent. 
It  exists  in  Persia  ;  it  exists  in  Brazil ;  it  exists  in  Egypt  and 
China  ;  in  Spain,  in  Malta,  and  in  Mexico ;  it  exists  in  Africa 
itself.  The  peculiarity  of  climate  and  soil  necessary  to  its 
production  has  been  greatly  exaggerated,  in  my  opinion.  I 
attribute  the  vast  production,  swelled  from  one  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  pounds  to  four  million  bales  in  seventy  years,  to 
the  combination  of  moral  and  physical  qualities  which  have 
been  associated  in  its  culture. 


200         HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

The  Southern  planter  is  not  the  indolent,  aristocratic  nabob 
which  he  has  been  represented  to  be.  He  is,  in  general,  care 
ful,  patient,  provident,  industrious,  forbearing,  and  yet  firm 
and  determined.  It  is  these  qualities  which  have  enabled  him 
to  take  a  race  of  untamed  savages,  with  no  habits  except  such 
as  inspire  disgust,  with  no  arts,  no  information,  and  out  of 
such  a  people  to  make  the  finest  body  of  fixed  laborers  that 
the  world  has  ever  seen.  Sir,  England  has  imported  Coolies, 
Chinese,  natives  from  the  African  coast,  into  her  colonies,  and 
yet  she  has  been  unable  to  compete  with  the  Southern  planta 
tions.  There  is  no  product  which  requires  such  a  constant  and 
unremitting  attention,  such  continuous  labor,  as  the  cotton 
plant.  The  great  complaint  in  the  British  colonies  is,  that  the 
fruit  of  each  year's  effort  is  lost  by  the  broken  and  irregular 
labor  of  the  operatives.  Now,  sir,  the  Southern  planter  has 
secured  continuity,  consistency,  and  steadfastness  in  the  most 
indolent,  inconsistent,  and  capricious  of  the  human  race. 
Burke,  in  his  speech  upon  conciliation  with  America,  paid  to 
the  victorious  industry  employed  in  the  fisheries  of  the  colonies 
of  New  England  a  just  and  glowing  tribute  of  admiration. 
The  perseverance,  the  dexterous  and  firm  sagacity  enlisted  in 
that  perilous  mode  of  industry,  is  worthy  of  his  esteem.  Some 
thing  of  the  same  qualities  are  displayed  by  the  Southern 
planter  in  the  production  of  those  beneficent  results  which  have 
flowed  from  the  culture  of  the  great  tropical  products  of  the 
Southern  States. 

The  Southern  planter  penetrates  the  dense  forests,  the 
tangled  brake,  the  gloomy  wilderness  of  our  river  swamps, 
where  pestilence  has  its  abode,  and  there,  day  by  day  and  year 
by  year,  amidst  exposure,  privation,  and  sickness,  are  his  fore 
sight,  his  prudence,  his  self-reliance,  his  adaptation  of  means  to 
ends,  called  into  requisition.  In  the  communion  with  himself, 
— which  his  isolation  makes  indispensable, — and  in  the  daily 
and  yearly  provision  for  a  large  body  of  domestics  and  depend- 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.        201 

ents  for  whom  he  has  to  think,  and  whose  labor  he  has  to 
direct,  he  forms  those  qualities  which  enable  him  to  emerge 
from  his  isolation  to  fill  the  county  court,  or  to  become  a 
member  of  his  State  Legislature ;  to  discharge  the  duties  of 
local  magistracy,  or  to  take  his  place  in  the  National  councils. 

The  solution  of  the  enigma  of  the  "slave  power,"  so  mys 
terious  to  transcendental  and  infant-school  philosophers,  may 
be  sought  here.  Its  basis  lies  in  that  cool,  vigorous  judgment 
and  unerring  sense  applicable  to  the  ordinary  affairs  and  inter- 
course  of  men  which  the  Southern  mode  of  life  fosters.  The 
habits  of  industry,  firmness  of  purpose,  fidelity  to  dependents, 
self-reliance,  and  the  sentiment  of  justice  in  all  the  various  re 
lations  of  life  which  are  necessary  to  the  management  of  a 
well-ordered  plantation,  fit  men  to  guide  legislatures  and  com 
mand  armies. 

I  see  gentlemen  are  disposed  to  smile  at  this  suggestion.  In 
confirmation  of  what  I  say,  I  have  only  to  point  them  to  the 
fact  that  it  was  in  such  communities  as  these  that  a  Washing 
ton,  a  Jackson,  a  Taylor,  a  Scott,  a  Twiggs,  a  Quitman,  a 
Davis,  a  Lee,  a  Einggold,  a  Bragg,  a  Butler,  and  a  host  of 
others,  acquired  those  qualities  which  enabled  them,  in  the 
positions  in  which  their  country  placed  them,  to  add  such  un 
dying  lustre  to  the  American  name.  It  was  in  such  communi 
ties  that  such  men  as  Jefferson,  Madison,  Monroe,  Polk, 
Lowndes,  Calhoun,  Clay,  Macon,  Marshall,  Taney,  and  a  host 
of  others  that  I  could  mention,  acquired  those  characteristics 
which  their  countrymen  North  and  South  instinctively  dis 
cerned  whenever  "called  upon  to  face  some  awful  moment 
to  which  Heaven  has  joined  great  issues,  good  or  bad,  for 
human  kind." 

I  have  sought,  sir,  in  a  cursory  way,  under  the  whip  and 
spur  of  this  hour  rule,  to  show  that  there  is  nothing  in  our  in 
stitutions  which  cannot  stand  justified  before  impartial  history 
for  our  mode  of  dealing  with  the  race  which  Providence  has 


202  HELPER'S    IMPENDING    CRISIS    DIRECTED. 

placed  in  our  hands.  I  do  not  pretend  to  say  that,  in  the  ad 
justment  of  our  economic  forces,  there  may  not  be  ameliora 
tions.  I  do  not  pretend  to  say  that  we  have  arrived  at  a 
standard  of  ideal  perfection.  But  I  do  say  that  there  is  a 
reach  of  thought  and  a  maturity  of  judgment  brought  to  bear 
upon  this  subject  in  the  South  which  is  always  adequate  to 
evolve  the  greatest  good.  We  certainly  can  learn  nothing 
from  the  enemies  of  our  institutions  and  conspirators  against 
our  peace. 

I  come  to  the  last  consideration  I  think  it  proper  to  urge 
upon  the  attention  of  the  House.  Is  it  the  part  of  statesmen 
to  attempt  to  exercise  the  powers  of  this  Government  in  a 
spirit  unfriendly  to  the  institutions  and  interests  involved  in 
the  political  and  economical  system  which  I  have  been  discuss 
ing  ?  The  father  of  the  Constitution,  Mr.  Madison,  on  the 
floor  of  the  Convention  which  framed  it,  expressed  a  different 
sentiment : 

"  He  admitted  that  every  peculiar  interest,  whether  in  any 
class  of  citizens  or  any  description  of  States,  ought  to  be  se 
cured  as  far  as  possible.  WHEREVER  THERE  is  DANGER  OP 

ATTACK,  THERE  OUGHT  TO  BE  GIVEN  A  CONSTITUTIONAL   POWER 

OF  DEFENSE.  But  he  contended  the  States  were  divided  into 
different  interests,  not  by  their  difference  in  size,  but  by  other 
circumstances,  the  most  material  of  which  resulted  partly  from 
climate,  but  principally  from  the  effects  of  their  having,  or  not 
having,  slaves.  These  two  causes  concurred  in  forming  the 
great  division  of  interests  in  the  United  States.  It  did  not 
lay  between  the  large  and  small  States.  It  lay  between  the 
Northern  and  Southern  States ;  and,  if  any  defensive  power 
were  necessary,  it  ought  to  be  mutually  to  these  two  interests. 
He  was  so  strongly  impressed  with  this  important  truth,  he 
had  been  casting  about  in  his  mind  for  some  scheme  that  would 
answer  the  purpose." 

I  do  not  anticipate  that  the  magnanimous  counsels  of  a  wise 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.         203 

and  patriotic  statesman,  whose  provisions  embraced  in  their 
scope  the  entire  Republic,  will  obtain  such  authority  as  to 
secure  additional  guarantees  to  our  institutions.  These  we 
have  not  asked.  We  ask  only  our  constitutional  rights  in  the 
Union.  The  Southern  people  demand  that  this  organized 
"  irrepressible  conflict"  shall  stop — that  the  institution  of  slav 
ery  shall  be  maintained  as  an  existing  fact  in  this  Confederacy. 
The  sentiment  is  rapidly  approaching  to  unanimity  among 
them,  that  any  attempt  to  impair  its  property-value,  or  a  single 
political  privilege  which  it  confers,  or  any  of  the  constitutional 
rights  by  which  it  is  guarantied,  or  to  place  over  them  the 
party  which  arrogates  to  itself  the  right  to  do  any  of  these 
things,  will  be  a  fatal  blow  at  the  peace  and  stability  of  this 
great  country. 


CHAPTER    X. 

Helper's  Quotations  from  tlie  Bible  annihilated — Slavery  not  de 
nounced  by  the  Bible — The  Proofs  of  Slavery  as  it  existed  before 
Christ— Southern  Slavery  Beneficial  both  to  the  Slave  and  his 
Master — The  Bible  endorses  Slavery  :  hence  the  cry  of  the  Repub 
licans,  "  We  must  have  an  Anti-slavery  Bible,  an  Anti-slavery 
Constitution,  and  an  Anti-slavery  God  !" 

MR.  HELPER  quotes  the  Bible  as  condemning  slavery. 
Man  will,  when  his  mind  becomes  prejudiced,  pervert  the 
Holy  Scriptures  to  evil, — his  ideas  thus  giving  it  a  mean 
ing  that  was  never  intended  by  the  inspired  writers,  viz. : 
a  contradiction  of  itself.  Now,  we  will  say,  that  there  is 
no  condemnation  set  forth  in  the  Bible  in  regard  to 
slavery.  In  illustration  of  this  statement,  let  the  reader 
take  such  as  these  : — "  Being  filled  with  all  unrighteous 
ness,  fornication,  wickedness,  covetousness,  malicojusness, 
full  of  envy,  murder,  debate,  deceit,  malignity ;  whisper- 
•crs,  backbiters,  haters  of  God,  despiteful ;  proud,  boasters, 
inventors  of  evil  things,  disobedient  to  parents,  without 
understanding,  covenant  breakers,  without  natural  affection, 
implacable,  unmerciful."  Rom.  i.  29-31.  "Now  the 
works  of  the  flesh  are  manifest,  which  are  these;  adultery, 
fornication,  imcleanness,  lasciviousness,  idolatry,  witch- 
(204) 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  puisis  DISSECTED.        205 

craft,  hatred,  variance,  emulation,  wrath,  strife,  sedition, 
heresies,  envyings,  murders,  drunkenness,  revellings,  and 
such  like."  Gal.  v.  19-21.  See,  also,  Matt.  xv.  19  ; 
Mark  vii.  21,  22;  1  Cor.  v.  11,  vi.  9,  10;  Eph.  v.  5; 
Col.  iii.  8,  9 ;  1  Tim.  i.  9,  10 ;  2  Tim.  iii.  2-4 ;  Rev.  xxi.  8, 
xxii.  15. 

By  turning  to  the  xxv.  chap.  Leviticus,  44th  to  46th 
verses,  inclusive,  you  will  find  the  following  words  in  sup 
port  of  slavery  : — "  Both  thy  bond-men  and  thy  bond-maids, 
which  thou  shalt  have,  shall  be  of  the  heathen  that  are 
round  about  you ;  of  them  shall  ye  buy  bond-men  and 
bond-maids.  Moreover,  of  the  children  of  the  strangers 
that  do  sojourn  among  you,  of  them  shall  ye  buy,  and  of 
their  families  that  are  with  you,  which  they  begat  in  your 
land;  and  they  shall  be  your  possession,"  (i.  e.,  your  pro 
perty.)  "  And  ye  shall  take  them  as  an  inheritance  for 
your  children  after  you,  to  inherit  them  for  a  possession, 
they  shall  be  your  bond-men  forever." 

"  And  the  sons  of  Noah,  that  went  forth  of  the  ark, 
were  Shem,  and  Ham,  and  Japheth  ;  and  Ham  is  the  fa 
ther  of  Canaan :  these  are  the  three  sons  of  Noah ;  and 
of  them  was  the  whole  earth  overspread." 

Noah  attained  the  age  of  nine  hundred  and  fifty  years ; 
this  period  is  divided  thus :  six  hundred  before  the  Deluge, 
and  three  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  that  event.  This 
makes  the  age  of  N^ah  the  second  highest  on  record,  that 
of  Methuselah  being  the  first,  he  having  lived  nine  hun 
dred  and  sixty-nine  years.  Noah  died  Anno  Mundi,  2006, 
18 


206         HELPER'S  IMPENLTNG  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

as  is  generally  agreed.  Previous  to  his  decease,  he  divided 
the  earth  among  his  three  sons.  Asia  was  assigned  to 
Shem,  Europe  to  Japheth,  and  Africa  to  Ham. 

In  the  examination  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  closely,  we 
will  find  the  prophecy  concerning  slavery. — "  And  Noah 
began  to  be  a  husbandman,  and  he  planted  a  vineyard : 
and  he  drank  of  the  wine,  and  was  drunken ;  and  he  was 
uncovered  within  his  tent.  And  Ham,  the  father  of  Ca 
naan,  saw  the  nakedness  of  his  father,  and  told  his 
brethren  without.  And  Shem  and  Japheth  took  a  gar 
ment,  and  laid  it  upon  their  shoulders,  and  went  backward, 
and  covered  their  father's  nakedness.  And  Noah  awoke 
from  his  wine,  and  knew  what  his  younger  son  had  done 
unto  him.  And  he  said,  Cursed  be  Canaan  ;  a  servant  of 
servants  shall  lie  be  unto  his  brethren."  Here  we  have  the 
establishment  of  slavery:  its  practical  developments  will 
appear  as  we  progress. 

Now  we  intend  to  show  that  the  old  Patriarchs  were 
slaveholders : — 

"  Abimelech,  King  of  Gerar,  sent  and  took  Sarah.  But 
God  came  to  Abimelech,  in  a  dream  by  night,  and  said  to 
him,  Behold,  thou  art  but  a  dead  man,  for  the  woman  which 
thou  hast  taken,  for  she  is  a  man's  wife."  "  And  Abim 
elech  took  sheep,  and  oxen,  and  men-servants,  and  gave 
them  unto  Abraham,  and  restored  him  Sarah  his  wife." 
Here  we  see,  that  Abraham  had  not  only  the  number  of 
his  slaves  increased,  but  that  slavery  existed  in  Palestine 
at  this  time.  We  think  it  will  be  evident,  by  reading  the 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.         207 

other  passages  in  connection  with  what  we  have  quoted 
above. 

Isaac  was  a  slaveholder, — "For  he  had  possession  of 
flocks,  and  possession  of  herds,  and  great  store  of  servants, 
and  the  Philistines  envied  him." 

Jacob  was  a  slaveholder. — When  Jacob  left  Messopota- 
mia,  and  was  returning  to  the  Promised  Land,  expecting 
to  meet  Esau,  whom  he  greatly  feared,  he  sent  messengers 
to  him,  "  And  commanded  them,  saying,  Thus  shall  ye 
speak  unto  my  Lord  Esau  :  Thy  servant  Jacob  saith  thus : 
I  have  sojourned  with  Laban,  and  stayed  there  until  now ; 
and  I  have  oxen,  and  asses,  flocks,  and  men-servants,  and 
women-servants  ;  and  I  have  sent  to  tell  my  lord,  that  I  may 
find  grace  in  thy  sight." 

Having  shown  that  slavery  existed  before  the  Advent  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  we  will  now  proceed  to  show  that  the 
condition  of  slaves  in  Judea,  in  our  Lord's  day,  was  no  bet 
ter  than  it  now  is  in  our  Southern  States,  whilst  in  all 
other  countries  it  was  greatly  worse. 

In  Judea.  u  Both  the  food  and  clothing  of  slaves  were 
of  the  poorest  description.  All  their  earnings  went  to 
their  masters.  The  maid-servants  were  employed  in  do 
mestic  concerns,  though  not  unfrequently  they  were  com 
pelled  to  engage  in  those  duties  which,  from  their  nature, 
were  more  befitting  the  other  sex." 

"  They  commonly  had  the  consent  of  their  masters  to 
marry  ;  or,  rather,  to  connect  themselves  with  a  woman  in 
that  way  which  is  denominated  by  a  Latin  law  term  contu- 


208         HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

bernium.*  The  children  that  proceeded  from  this  sort  of 
marriages,  were  the  property,  not  of  the  parents,  but  of 
their  owners./' — Jahn's  Archaeology,  pp.  180,  181. 

In  Rome.  "  For  slaves  the  lash  was  the  common  punish 
ment;  but  for  certain  crimes,  they  used  to  be  branded 
on  the  forehead,  and  sometimes  were  forced  to  carry  a 
piece  of  wood  round  their  necks  wherever  they  went. 
When  slaves  were  beaten,  they  used  to  be  suspended  with 
a  weight  tied  to  their  feet,  that  they  might  not  move  them. 
When  punished  capitally,  they  were  commonly  crucified. 
If  a  master  of  a  family  was  slain  in  his  own  house,  and 
the  murderer  not  discovered,  all  his  domestic  slaves  were 
liable  to  be  put  to  death.  There  was  a  continual  market 
for  slaves  at  Rome.  The  seller  was  bound  to  promise  for 
the  soundness  of  his  slaves,  and  not  to  conceal  their  faults. 
Hence  they  were  commonly  exposed  to  sale  naked  ;  and 
they  carried  a  scroll  hanging  at  their  necks,  on  which 
their  good  and  bad  qualities  were  specified." — Adam's 
Rom.  Ant.  pp.  48,  51. 

In  Crreece.  The  condition  of  slaves  in  Greece  appears 
to  have  been  much  the  same  as  at  Rome. — Potter's  Gr. 
Ant.  1,  10. 

Evident  reference  to  slavery  on  the  part  of  the  Apos 
tle  we  have  in  1  Cor.  vi.  20;  vii.  22.  St.  Paul,  in 
reference  to  the  custom  of  purchasing  slaves,  on  whose 

*  "  Contubernium  was  the  matrimony  of  slaves,  a  permitted  cohabita 
tion;  not  partaking  of  lawful  marriage,  which  they  could  not  con 
tract."— Cooper's  Justirian,  p.  420. 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.          20P 

head  a  price  was  then  fixed,  just  as  upon  any  other  com 
modity,  and  who,  when  bought,  were  the  property  of  the 
purchaser,  by  a  very  beautiful  and  expressive  similitude, 
represents  Christians  as  the  servants  (doulos)  of  Christ. 
And  in  Gal.  vi.  17,  alluding  to  the  signatures  with  which 
slaves  in  those  days  were  branded,  writes : — "  From  hence 
forth  let  no  man  trouble  me,  for  I  bear  in  my  body  the 
marks  of  the  Lord  Jesus." — Home's  Introduction. 

With  the  apostle,  the  word  servant  (doulos)  is  a  favorite 
word  for  setting  forth  the  relation  which  they  sustained  to 
Christ,  as  persons  entirely  and  for  life  devoted  to  his 
service,  and  bound  to  implicit  obedience.  (See  Rom.  i.  1 : 
2  Pet.  i.  1 ;  Jude  1.) 

But  the  most  significant  allusion  to  slavery — significant 
in  so  far  as  the  point  now  under  examination  is  concerned — 
is  that  contained  in  1  Tim.  i.  1,  9,  10  : — "  Know  this,  that 
the  law  is  not  made  for  a  righteous  man,  but  for  the  law* 
less  and  disobedient,  for  the  ungodly  and  for  sinners,  for 
unholy  and  profane,  for  murderers  of  fathers  and  mur 
derers  of  mothers,  for  manslayers,  for  whoremongers,  for 
them  that  defile  themselves  with  mankind,  for  menstealers 
(andrapodistais),  for  liars,  for  perjured  persons,  and  if 
there  be  any  other  thing  that  is  contrary  to  sound  doc 
trine." 

On  the  word  andrapodistais,  Bloomfield  remarks: — 
"  Expositors  are  agreed  that  the  word  means  kidnapping 
free  persons  to  be  sold  as  slaves,  a  crime  universally  re 
garded  as  of  the  deepest  dye,  and  always  punished  with 
18* 


210        HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

death." — Bloomficld's  New  Testament.  And  in  the  coun 
tries  adjacent  to  that  in  which  Timothy  was  when  Paul 
wrote  this  epistle  to  him,  we  have  express  testimony  that 
kidnapping  prevailed.* 

Says  the  distinguished  Dr.  Armstrong,  in  his  work  on 
"  The  Christian  Doctrine  of  Slavery"  :  "  The'  distinctions 
between  slaveholding  and  kidnapping  is  one  always  made, 
in  so  far  as  we  know,  in  the  laws  of  slaveholding  states. 
Under  Moses's  law,  slaveholding  was  expressly  authorized, 
(Lev.  xxv.  44-46,)  whilst  kidnapping  was  made  a  capital 
crime."  "And  he  that  stealeth  a  man  and  selleth  him, 
or  if  he  be  found  in  his  hand,  (i.  e.,  '  though  he  had  not 
actually  sold  him* — Bp.  Patrick,)  he  shall  thereby  be  put 
to  death."  —  Ex.  xxi.  16.  See  also  Deut.  xxiv.  7. 
Timothy,  who  "from  a  child  had  known  the  Holy  Scrip 
tures,"  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures  of  course,  for  the 
New  Testament  was  not  written  in  Timothy's  childhood, 
must  have  been  familiar  with  this  distinction ;  and  when 
Paul  writes  to  him,  and,  in  giving  a  catalogue  of  sins  to 
be  condemned,  mentions  "man  stealing"  among  crimes 
of  the  deepest  dye,  whilst  in  the  same  epistle  he  requires 
him  to  teach  slaves  to  obey  their  masters ;  and  this  the 
more  heartily  when  the  masters  are  Christian  men,  and  to 
withdraw  himself  from  any  who  should  teach  a  different 

*  "  The  Thessalonians,  according  to  Aristophanes,  were  notorious 
for  stealing  persons  of  inglorious  birth  and  education,  and  selling 
them  as  slaves.  But  if  any  person  was  convicted  of  having  be 
trayed  a  freeman,  he  was  severely  punished  by  Solon's  laws."— 
Potter's  Gr.  Ant.  i.  10. 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.         211 

doctrine,  (see  1  Tim.  vi.  I--5,)  the  idea  would  be  sug 
gested  inevitably  that  the  distinction  made  in  Moses's  law 
continued  under  the  Gospel  dispensation." 

Think  of  this,  0  ye  Republicans,  sinners  and  hypo 
crites  ! ! ! 

Having  showed  that  slavery  was  sanctioned  by  the  Old 
Testament,  we  will  proceed  to  show  that  it  is  also  sanc 
tioned  by  the  New  Testament,  and  will  only  quote  a  few 
passages  as  our  limited  space  will  not  admit  of  an  exten 
sive  quotation. 

"  And  ye  masters,  do  the  same  things  unto  them,  for 
bearing  threatening,  knowing  that  your  master  also  is  in 
heaven,  neither  is  there  respect  of  persons  with  him." 

"  Masters,  give  unto  your  servants  that  which  is  just 
and  equal,  knowing  that  ye  also  have  a  master  in  heaven." 
— Paraphrase :  Ye  masters  (who  are  saints  and  faithful 
brethren  in  Christ  at  Colosse,  i.  2),  give  unto  your  slaves 
(douloi)  that  which  is  just  and  equal,  knowing  that  ye  also 
have  a  master  in  heaven. 

"  And  they  that  have  believing  masters,  let  them  not 
despise  them,  because  they  are  brethren ;  but  rather  do 
ihem  a  service,  because  they  are  faithful  and  beloved 
partakers  of  the  benefit.  These  things  teach  and  exhort." 
"  Servants  (douloi)  be  obedient  to  those  that  are  your 
masters  according  to  the  flesh,  with  fear  and  trembling, 
in  singleness  of  your  hearts,  as  unto  Christ ;  not  with  eye- 
service,  as  man  j:leaserD,  but  as  the  servants  (douloi)  of 
Christ,  doing  tho  wl\l  of  Cv\\  from  the  heart ;  with  good- 


212        HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

will  doing  service  as  to  the  Lord,  and  not  to  men : 
knowing  that  whatsoever  good  thing  any  man  doeth,  the 
same  shall  he  receive  of  the  Lord,  whether  he  be  bond  or 
free."  "And  ye  masters,  do  the  same  things  unto  them, 
forbearing  threatening;  knowing  that  your  master  also 
is  in  heaven ;  neither  is  there  respect  of  persons  with 
him."— Eph.  vi.  5-9. 

It  is  a  very  singular  fact  that  Helper  quotes  very  little 
from  the  Bible  to  sustain  (as  he  thinks)  his  declaration 
that  the  Bible  is  opposed  to  slavery.  By  reading  what  he 
has  quoted,  and  what  we  have,  there  would  seem  to  be  a 
contradiction  of  the  Bible.  Not  at  all,  for  if  we  had  the 
space,  we  could  easily  show  not,  but  rather  show  that  the 
Bible  is  a  whole  defense  of  slavery.  We  would  recom 
mend  the  reader  to  get  a  work  entitled,  "  Bible  Defense 
of  Slavery,"  which  obviates  all  further  trouble  on  this 
point.  Hence  the  saying  of  Mr.  Burlingame,  of  Massa 
chusetts,  that  "  we  must  have  an  anti-slavery  Bible,  an 
anti-slavery  Constitution,  and  an  anti-slavery  God." 


CHAPTER    XI. 

Our  Views  on  Slavery — The  Negro  as  he  is,  incompetent  to  do  for 
Himself — The  Proofs — Conclusion. 

/ 

SLAVERY,  in  most  of  its  aspects,  has  occupied  the  atten 
tion  and  exhausted  the  eloquence  of  the  lights  of  our  po 
litical  horizon.  No  question  has  ever  been  agitated  more 
earnestly,  or  argued  in  a  more  acrimonious  spirit.  None 
offered  better  opportunities  to  the  pseudo-philanthropical 
debaters, — none  presented  the  same  record  of  enmity  and 
recriminination  existing  between  antagonistic  parties, — all 
'  other  issues  have  sunk  into  insignificance  beside  it ;  and, 
the  termination  of  the  controversy,  who  can  foresee  ? 

Gentlemen  from  the  North  (representing  the  conserva 
tive  element  of  the  Abolition  party)  protest  against  the 
existence  of  a  servile  class  amongst  them  as  an  infraction 
of  the  laws  of  God,  and  as  opposed  to  the  interests  of  so 
ciety!  They  speak  of  gradual  manumition  —  coloniza 
tion — of .  the  inalienable  rights  of  men — of  the  laws  of 
morality,  and  the  principles  of  justice.  Their  confreres, — 
pleasantly  oblivious  to  the  records  of  the  past,  to  the 
teachings  of  science,  and  to  common  sense, — and  they  hold 
the  institution  as  a  curse,  condemn  the  slaveholder  as  a 


/o  1  o\ 


214  HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

monster,  assert  the  equality — physical,  moral,  and  intellec 
tual — of  the  Caucasian  and  the  Negro ;  and,  like  their 
gifted  ally,  that  pious  patriot,  Mr.  Burlingame,  suggest 
(with  the  example  of  the  French  Assembly  fresh  in  their 
memory)  the  substitution  of  a  new  Constitution,  a  new 
Bible,  and  a  new  God,  for  those  which  we  at  present  re 
cognize  !  This  is  an  eloquent  exordium,  but  apparently 
unplies  a  slight  distrust  in  the  warrant  which  religion  and 
law  give  them  for  their  crusade  against  the  South.  How 
ever  true  the  Roman  moralist's  remark  may  be,  that  "  no 
man  is  wise  at  all  times,"  it  will  scarcely  cover  the  case  of 
those  who  are  not  so  at  any  time.  Calm  people,  whose  time 
is  not  taken  up  with  preaching  a  war  of  extermination 
against  those  of  our  countrymen  who  live  south  of  Mason 
and  Dixon's  line,  must,  we  are  inclined  to  believe,  look  upon 
the  extremists  of  both  parties  with  a  feeling  very  much 
like  contempt,  for  both,  in  the  heat  of  personal  feeling, 
appear  to  have  entirely  lost  sight  of  the  only  arguments 
upon  which  the  question  can  be  rationally  based : — 

Is  the  negro  equal  to  the  white  man  ? — the  African  to 
the  Caucasian? 

1st,  Intellectually. — History,  which  is  the  record  of  the 
development  of  the  human  race  in  time  and  space,  rather 
militates  against  such  a  conclusion.  Optimism  and  philan 
thropy  are  both  highly  creditable  to  human  nature,  but 
neither  the  one  nor  the  other  can  be  considered  to  the  ex 
clusion  of  facts.  It  might  be  pertinently  asked  of  those 
who  avow  their  belief  in  the  equality  of  the  slave  and  his 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.         215 

master,  how  the  negro  came  to  be  his  slave,  when  both 
races  were  equally  endowed  by  nature  ?  and,  more  Socra- 
tico,  he  (the  interrogator)  might  calmly  inquire  into  the 
cause  (which  the  Abolitionists  would  doubtless  be  able  to 
assign)  why  it  was  that  the  negro  was  always  a  slave, — in 
India,  Syria,  and  Egypt,  three  thousand  years  ago,  as  in 
Georgia,  Louisiana,  and  Virginia,  to-day,  with  the  same 
brain  in  the  same  proportion  to  the  white  races  ? — why,  in 
the  revolutions  that  have  convulsed  the  nations  under  whom 
he  lived  a  servant,  has  he  not  thrown  off  his  fetters  and 
become  free  ? — or,  rather,  when  undisturbed  in  the  posses 
sion  of  those  regions  in  which  he  attains  his  greatest  phy 
sical  perfection,  and  into  which  no  invading  army  has  ever 
penetrated,  has  he  not,  from  the  elaboration  of  those  ele 
ments  which  he  has  in  common  with  the  Caucasian,  rivalled 
in  some  degree  his  progress  in  arms,  arts,  and  letters  ? 

Where  are  the  obelisks  of  the  Gold  coast,  the  pyramids 
of  Guinea,  the  temples  of  Zanguebar  ? — Gone !  Where 
are  their  ruins  ?  Why  has  no  navigator  of  the  early  times 
mentioned  their  existence,  or  recorded  their  traditions,  in 
the  unknown  lands  which  recent  enterprise  has  presented 
to  us? 

In  that  delightful  "province  of  the  sun,"  explored  by 
the  English,  where,  generation  after  generation,  age  after 
age,  the  negro  has  lived  secure  from  foreign  invasion,  why 
have  no  monuments  of  intellectual  equality  greeted  the 
explorers,  which  would  warrant  us  in  believing  in  the  doc 
trine?  Not  to  elevate  the  standard  too  high, — has  the 


216        HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

African  ever  equalled  the  Mongolian  ?  Where,  in  the  lands 
in  which  he  has  been  domesticated,  has  he  adopted  the 
civilization  around  him,  or  preserved  it,  when  removed  for 
any  length  of  time  from  those  who  taught  it  ? 

The  elevated  plateau  of  the  Indo-Chinese  world  is 
scarcely  more  accessible,  and  has  been  little  more  open  to 
foreign  innovations  than  Africa.  Can  any  similarity  be 
traced  between  them  ? — any  man  in  his  senses  compare  one 
with  the  other  ?  Yet  the  Mongol  is  not  more  superior  to 
the  negro  than  the  Caucasian  to  him. 

If  it  be  answered  to  this,  that  the  race  is  one  condemned 
by  heaven,  and  the  authority  of  the  Old  Testament  (which 
is  not  recognized  as  applicable  by  modern  science)  cited  to 
explain  the  reasons  for  that  state  of  degradation  which 
has  ever  been  the  lot  of  the  African ;  then  it  appears  that 
these  gentlemen,  disregarding  the  remonstrances  of  St. 
Augustine,  are  using  one  part  of  the  Bible  to  disprove  the 
other,  and  (as  we  believe  no  new  revelation  has  revoked 
the  decree)  trying  to  do,  for  the  love  of  God,  that  which 
he  has  asserted  should  not  be  done.  The  inconvenience 
arising  from  this  position  of  the  question,  no  doubt,  sug 
gested  to  the  inventive  mind  of  the  gentleman  before 
quoted,  the  idea  of  having  a  new  Bible. 

But,  perhaps,  the  Northern  philanthropist  to  whom  these 
arguments  were  supposed  to  be  addressed,  having  been 
fortunate  enough  to  be  born  in  Boston,  and  therefore,  by 
divine  right,  knowing  rather  more  than  other  people,  might 
have  answered  the  questions,  though  he  could  not  have 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.        217 

denied  the  facts.  Is  there  nothing  more  to  be  said? 
Plenty.  The  only  difficulty  is  how  to  say  it  without  pre 
venting  those  who  are  not  initiated  into  the  mysteries  of 
science  from  clearly  comprehending  it ;  and,  also,  without 
shocking  the  pure  in  heart,  by  an  apparent  contradiction 
of  the  Mosaic  records. 

"Jefferson,  in  his  notes,  says  slavery  is  an  evil,"  (vehem 
ently  assert  the  gentlemen  from  the  North.)  And  Jeffer 
son  was  a  slaveholder,  and  a  Virginian,  too.  Certainly, 
he  was  more  than  this:  he  was  a  patriot  —  the  author  of 
the  Declaration  of  Independence.  He  was  a  scholar,  and 
a  philosopher  in  his  way,  also.  But  then  Jefferson  was, 
after  all,  a  man,  and  "humanum  est  err  are'  was  as  true 
when  he  lived  as  at  this  day. 

Unfortunately  for  his  authority  upon  this  point,  most  of 
that  knowledge  which  can  really  render  this  question  of 
slavery  or  abolition  a  rational  one,  was  then  unknown,  or 
had,  rather,  no  regular  or  scientific  form.  History,  it  is 
true,  taught  its  lessons  then  as  now ;  but  Ethnology,  in 
all  its  departments,  Physiology,  Comparative  Anatomy, 
Iconology,  Comparative  Philology,  etc.  etc., — how  about 
these !  Are  they  unworthy  our  attention  !  But  does  his 
tory  pronounce  decidedly  and  without  appeal  against  the 
institution  of  slavery  ?  If  so, — where  !  In  Egypt,  in  In 
dia, — in  Greece, — Rome, — on  the  coasts  of  Africa,  or  the 
nations  of  the  modern  world  ?  It  would  evidently  be  im 
possible  to  review  their  civilization  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
assert  that  it  either  did  or  did  not.  We  can  simply  inquire 
19 


218          HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

whether  this  evil,  fatal  to  the  advance  of  improvement,  the 
development  of  intellect,  and  the  existence  of  refinement, 
is  so  represented  in  the  records  transmitted  to  us  of  these 
States  ?  It  may  be  so,  but  I  have  never  heard  that  any 
one  of  the  holy  Avatars  was  undertaken  to  destroy  this 
hydra.  It  appears  that,  at  the  same  period  when  the 
chisel  of  the  artist  sculptured  the  negro  slave  upon  the 
marbles  of  the  Thebais,  the  great  Rameses  was  prose 
cuting  his  conquests.  Thucydides  and  Polybius  are 
strangely  silent.  Tacitus  and  Livy — why  have  they,  who 
saw  it  in  its  worst  and  most  cruel  form,  not  depicted  its 
tendencies  and  revealed  its  defects  ? 

Yet  slavery  in  the  nations  of  antiqity,  and  also  of  the 
middle  ages,  was  far  more  reprehensible  than  that  of  the 
United  States  :  for  it  was  the  bondage  of  the  white  man  to 
the  white  man — of  equal  to  equal — as  the  event  has  in  all 
these  instances  shown. 

The  conquered  enemy,  whatever  might  have  been  his 
country  or  condition,  became,  in  most  instances,  the  slave 
of  his  conqueror,  who  exercised  over  him  absolute  power. 
The  revolutions  of  the  East,  the  servile  war  of  Lacedeemon 
and  the  insurrection  of  Spartacus,  when  compared  with  that 
of  St.  Domingo,  show,  certainly,  the  same  spirit  of  rapine 
and  cruelty ;  but,  as  to  their  results,  there  can  be  no  mis 
take.  The  former  ended  in  the  final  liberation  of  the 
oppressed  class.  Why  ?  Did  circumstances  more  favor 
able  occur  to  them  than  to  the  negro  ?  No  ;  but  the  others 
possessed  those  elements  which  entitled  them  to  supremacy, 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.         219 

and  they  won  it, — more  than  this,  they  kept  it :  they  were 
competent  to  bear  the  brunt  of  misfortunes,  because  na 
ture  has  so  ordered  it,  that  no  instance  has  ever  yet  occur 
red  in  the  world's  history,  where  a  people  have  possessed 
the  power  of  becoming  free,  civilized  and  enlightened,  who 
have  not  compelled  fate,  as  it  were,  to  advance  their  inter 
ests. 

To  sum  up  :  We  know  that,  in  the  scale  of  humanity, 
the  negro  holds  the  lowest  place ;  that  no  system  of  juris 
prudence,  no  principle  of  science,  no  rule  of  art,  has  ever 
originated  from  the  brain  of  an  African. 

That  he  has  not  the  capacity  for  becoming,  under  any 
circumstances,  an  enlightened  man ;  that  the  nearest  ap 
proach  to  that  state  which  he  has  made  has  not  been  perma 
nent  ;  and  that,  deprived  of  his  teacher,  he  again  degener 
ates  into  the  condition  of  a  barbarian. 

To  account  for  these  conditions,  some  supposition  is 
necessary.  The  first  was,  that  the  decree  of  Heaven  had 
blasted  the  parent  source  of  the  race,  and  that  the  suc 
cessors  of  the  son  of  Noah  had  never  been  permitted  to 
regain  their  former  capacity,  or  to  rival  their  brethren  in 
the  part  which  they  enacted  in  the  world's  history. 

If  the  hypothesis  before  stated  be  true  to  the  extent  to 
which  some  persons  interpret  it,  the  assertion  of  the 
"  equality"  of  the  races  is  neither  more  nor  less  than  a 
contradiction  of  the  manifest  will,  and  an  endeavor  to 
change  the  evident  intention  of  the  Creator,  and  the  at- 


220        HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

tempted  demonstration  by  the  Scriptures  of  the  enormity 
of  slaveholding  becomes  an  absurdity. 

It  has  been  gravely  asserted,  however,  that  climate  and 
the  various  phenomena  of  the  external  world  have  caused 
the  change,  now  distinctive,  between  races.  Without 
wishing  to  enter  into  a  review  of  ethnological  principles, 
let  us  merely  suggest  some  of  the  peculiarities  which  mark 
the  negro  type,  and  if  there  are  not  physical  reasons 
enough  to  satisfy  the  unprejudiced  as  to  the  very  evident 
intention  of  Providence,  we  can  scarcely  hope  to  bring 
conviction  by  any  less  apparent  method  of  proof.  It  is  a 
fact  well  authenticated,  that  certain  differences  exist  be 
tween  the  four  great  types  of  mankind,  which  have  been 
permanent  since  the  earliest  period  to  which  our  knowledge 
extends.  Whether  the  examination  and  analysis  of  these 
idiosyncracies  are  sufficient  to  prove  that  the  Caucasian, 
American,  Mongol,  and  Negro  were  aborigine,  distinct  and 
different  races,  is  not  our  intention  to  inquire.  All  that 
we  shall  attempt  is  a  demonstration  of  the  physical  infe 
riority  of  the  African  to  the  white  man,  and  a  brief  re 
view  of  the  reasons  which  these  afford  us  for  placing  this 
species  of  the  "  genus  homo"  in  the  rank  which  nature 
appears  to  have  designed  them  to  occupy. 

The  culminating  point  in  the  scale  of  created  beings 
(physically  considered)  is  man, — and  of  men,  the  Cauca 
sian.  The  nearer  the  approach  to  this  type,  the  greater 
the  capacity  has  been,  the  more  powerful  the  influence 
upon  the  history  of  humanity,  and  the  more  enlightened 


HELPER'S   IMPENDING   CKISIS   DISSECTED.  221 

the  individual  and  nation.  This  type,  moreover,  presents 
besides  the  physical  conformation  most  in  accordance  with 
the  ideal  in  art,  peculiarities  of  temperament  and  intellect 
which  have,  under  all  circumstances,  urged  them  onward ; 
they  are  the  masters  of  the  world, — the  investiagtors,  the 
inventors. 

Between  the  first  mentioned  race  (the  Caucasian)  and 
the  Negro,  two  great  types  intervene,  the  Mongol  and 
the  American ;  the  first,  capable  of  civilization  but  not 
enlightenment ;  the  second,  in  his  pure  and  unmixed 
blood,  incapable  of  either.  The  intention  which  would 
appear  from  the  analogies  of  the  natural  world  with 
regard  to  the  condition  under  which  its  various  species 
were  to  exist,  nowhere  is  more  strikingly  exemplified 
than  in  the  destiny  which  has  attended  the  races  first 
mentioned.  It  would  seem  as  if  there  were  some  absolute 
and  unchanging  influence  exerted  upon  each,  which  has 
ever  circumscribed  their  progress  and  regulated  their 
efforts.  The  field  of  universal  history,  infinitely  diver 
sified  in  its  incidents,  presents  a  singular  uniformity  in 
the  events  which  have  marked  the  rise,  progress,  and 
decay,  of  the  various  varieties  intc  which  naturalists 
have  divided  mankind.  There  has  been  no  great  varia 
tion  in  the  consequence,  even  amid  the  infinite  multiplicity 
of  causes  which  have  effected  them. 

Without  asserting  the  identity  of  the  spiritual  and 
material,  it  is  an  indisputable  fact  that  intellectual 
superiority  generally  depends  upon  and  is  coincident 
19* 


222        HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED. 

with  organic.  Though  the  quality,  rather  than  the 
quantity,  of  the  brain,  is  considered  the  sign  of  mind, 
yet  it  is  as  impossible  to  suppose  the  power  of  an  engine 
residing  in  its  miniature  patent,  as  the  intelligence  of  the 
cranium  whose  facial  angle  is  85°  existing  in  one  of  little 
more  than  half  that  capacity.  The  lower  orders  of  ani 
mated  nature,  are  ranked  according  to  their  approach  to 
the  anatomical  structure  of  man.  The  same  holds  good 
in  the  classification  of  the  races  themselves.  The  negro 
is  the  furthest  removed  from  the  perfect  type,  and  the 
nearest  to  the  anthropoid  simige  of  any. 

Nature  has,  for  three  thousand  years,  made  no  change 
in  this  conformation,  and  as  the  law  of  hybridity  applies 
as  well  to  men  as  other  animals,  is  not  likely  to  do  so 
now.  The  professions  of  friendship  and  brotherly  kind 
ness  on  the  part  of  the  Abolition  party,  can  scarcely 
make  a  difference  in  the  shape  of  the  bones  of  the 
cranium  and  body.  And  while  these  do  exist,  if  there 
can  be  any  judgment  of  the  future,  formed  from  the 
events  of  the  past,  the  African  will  still  be  a  slave,  if 
not  to  one  master,  at  least  to  another. 

Now,  fellow-citizens,  having  presented  to  your  view  the 
"  Irrepressible  Conflict"  that  is  going  on  between  the 
enemies  of  the  Constitution,  as  well  as  its  friends,  and 
the  "Impending  Crisis"  as  it  is,  we  call  upon  you  to 
come  forward,  lift  your  voices,  your  hands,  and  your 
hearts,  in  behalf  of  the  Union,  and  preserve  it  from  the 
almost  inevitable  fate  that  awaits  it — destruction  ! 


HELPER'S  IMPENDING  CRISIS  DISSECTED.        223 

In  pursuance  of  this,  we  call  upon  every  conservative 
man  in  the  North,  who  loves  his  country  and  her  institu 
tions,  to  shake  off  the  trammels  of  the  fanaticism  of  the 
North,  and  swear  before  God  and  upon  the  altar  of  his 
country,  that  he  will  stand  by  her  Constitution  and  laws 
as  they  are,  as  enacted  by  Congress  and  interpreted  by 
the  Supreme  Court.  And  to  use  the  language  of  another : 
"  Then  we  shall  see  every  heart  a  shield,  and  a  drawn 
sword  in  every  hand  to^preserve  the  ark  of  our  political 
safety!  Then  we  shall  see  reared,  a  fabric  upon  our 
National  Constitution,  which  time  cannot  crumble,  per 
secution  shake,  fanaticism  disturb,  nor  revolution  change ; 
but  which  shall  stand  among  us  like  some  lofty  and  stu 
pendous  Apennine,  while  the  earth  rocks  at  its  feet,  ant! 
the  thunder  peals  above  its  head  !" 

Contemplating  our  country  and  its  enemies  (Itepubli 
cans)  may  we  not  exclaim  with  the  poet : 

"Country,  on  thy  sons  depending, 

Strong  in  manhood,  bright  in  bloom, 

Hast  thou  not  seen  thy  pride  descending, 
Shrouded  to  the  unbounded  tomb  ? 

Rise  I — on  eagle  pinion  soaring- 
Rise  like  one  of  Godlike  birth — 

And,  Jehovah's  aid  imploring, 
Sweep  the  SPOILER  from  the  erjth." 


THE    END. 


1O.OOO  AGENTS  WANTED! 


AMERICAN  RAILROAD  MAP 

FROM   THE 

ATLANTIC  TO  THE  PACIFIC, 

SHOWING   THE    THREE    PROPOSED 

BAILROADS  TO  CALIFORNIA 

AND    THE 

GREAT  OVERLAND  MAIL  ROUUE, 

Together  with  all  the  Railroads  in  the  United  States  and  Canadas.  It 
w  the  only  correct  Railroad  Map  now  issued.  It  is  beautifully  engraved 
on  Steel  Plates,  and  surrounded  with  twenty-eight 

Photograph  Portraits  of  the  Leading  Railroad 

Presidents  and  Superintendents,  men 

controlling  $480,000,000. 

among  whom  will  be  seen  J.  Edgar  Thomson,  Pres't  Pennsylvania  Cen 
tral  R.  R. ;  Hon.  Erastus  Corning,  Pres't  New  York  Central  R.  R. ; 
John  Robin  McDaniel,  Pres't  Virginia  and  Tennessee  R.  R.,  one  of  the 
links  of  the  great  Southern  mail  route ;  Hon.  John  Ross,  Pres't  Grand 
Trunk  R.  R.,  of  Canada,  and  twenty  others,  among  whom  are  the 
greatest  financiers  and  railroad  managers  of  the  age. 

Price  in  Sheets,  25  Cents. 


Sent  by  mail,  free  of  postage,  to  any  part  of  the  United  Statee, 
free  of  postage,  on  receipt  of  the  price.     Address, 

J.  T.  LLOYD, 

YORK. 


tf3?~  Agents  are  allowed  liberal  discounts.    KEGISTEEED  LETTERS 
WILL  BE  AT  THE  PUBLISHER'S  RISK. 


CLOAKS   AND   MANTILLAS. 

E.  S.  MILLS    &   GO. 

Offer  to  Southern  Buyers  the  largest  and  most  desirable 
assortment  of  new  and  fashionable  styles  of 

CLOAKS,  MANTLES,  DUSTERS,  ETC., 

To  be  found  in  the  City;  made  of  Velvet,  Cloth,  and 

other  materials  adapted  to  the  season. 
Our  Buyer  visits  London  and  Paris  every  season  to 
select  all  the  novelties  in  this  line  as  they  appear  in  those 
markets. 

Wholesale  Only— Low  Prices— Liberal  Terms.  °iBa 
E.    S.    HULLS    &  •  CO., 

Importers,  Manufacturers,  and  Jobbers, 
342  &  344  BROADWAY,  New  York. 

STEINWAY    *    SONS' 

PATENT    OVERSTRUNG 


GRAND  SQUARE 


ES-TES 

Are  now  considered  the  Best  Pianos  manufactured.     Opinion  of  nearly  all  the  greatest 
and  most  prominent  Musicians  and  Artists  regarding  these  Instruments: 

The  undersigned,  having  personalty  examined  and  practically  tested  the  improve 
ment  in  Grand  Pianos,  invented  by  H.  STEINWAY,  in  which  the  covered  strings  are 
overstrung  above  those  remaining,  do  hereby  certify  : 

1.  That  as  a  result  of  the  said  improvement  the  voice  of  the  Piano  is  greatly  improved 
in  quality,  quantity  and  power. 

2.  The  sound  by  Steinway's  improvement  is  much  more  even,  less  harsh,  stronger, 
and  much  better  prolonged,  than  that  realized  iu  any  other  Piano  with  which  we  are 
acquainted. 

3.  The  undersigned  regard  the  improvement  of  Mr.  Steinway  as  most  novel,  ingen 
ious  and  important.     No  Piano  of  similar  construction  has  never  been  known  or  used, 
so  far  as  the  undersigned  know  or  believe. 

GiTrfTAv.  SATTEB,        U.  C.  HILL,  WILLIAM  MASON,        GEORGE  W.  MORGAN. 

S.  B.  MILLS,  WM.  A.  KINO,  JOHN  N.  PATTISON,      CARL  BERGMANN, 

WM.  SAAR,  G-F.&.  F.  BRISTOW,      ROBERT  GOLDBECK,      HENHV  C.  TIMM, 

And  many  others. 

Each  Instrument  warranted  for  the  term  of  three  years. 
WAREROOMS.  Nos.  82  and  84  Walker  Street,  near  Broadway,  New  York. 


BETTS,    NICHOLS    &    CO., 

SUCCESSORS  TO  WRIGHT,  BETTS  &  Co., 
Wholesale  Dealers  in 

SADDLERY, 

349  Broadway,  New  York. 

P.  B.  BETTS.  S.  A.  CHURCH. 

8.  T.  NICHOLS.  H.  H.  ELLIS. 

THOMAS  H.   BATE  &  CO., 

Manufacturers  and  Importers  of 

NEEDLES,  FISH  .HOOKS,  AND   FISHING   TACKLE, 

No.  7  WARREN  STREET,  near  Broadway, 
NEW     YOKK. 

BARRETTS    &    SHAFFER, 

Wholesale  Dealers  in 

BOYS'    AND    YOUNG    MEN'S 
CLOTHING, 

34  MURRAY  STREET,  NEW  YORK 

Ten  years'  experience  in  this  branch  of  the  Clothing1  Business,  has  taught  us  the  wants 
of  every  section  of  our  Union,  and  our  large  and  well-manufactured  stock  enables  us  to 
supply  all  demands. 

TO  THE  LOVERS  OF  GOOD  CANDIES 

STEWART    &    CO., 

393    PEARIi    STREET,    NEW    YORK, 

Manufacture  Pure  and  Unadulterated  CONFECTIONERY,  using 
only  pure  Loaf  Sugar  and  the  finest  Flavors.  Constantly  on  hand, 
a  large  variety  packed  in  Boxes  of  30  to  100  Jbs. ;  also,  Gum  Drops, 
Mixed  Candies,  and  Oriental  Fig  Drops  in  quarter-pound  Satin  Pa 
pers,  handy  for  Retailing.  Dealers  who  wish  a  pure  article  will 
please  send  us  their  orders. 

STEWART  &  CO.,  393  Pearl  St.,  New  York. 


QUEEN  OF  THE  SOUTH  COOK  STOVE 


ABENDROTH    BROTHERS, 

109  and  111  BEEKMAN  ST.,  NEW  YORK, 

MANUFACTURERS    OF 

STOVES,    PLUMBERS'   WARE,    &c., 

CAST  IRON  PIPE  from  2  to  12  Inches  in  Diameter. 


ice  Lists  and  Illustrated  Catalogues,  will  be  sent  by  ad 
dressing  as  above. 

SOUTHERN    DRUG    HOUSE. 
PHILIP    SCHIEFFELIN   &   CO., 

58  and  60  VESEY  STREET,  NEW  YORK, 

WHOLESALE     DRUGGISTS, 

Would  call  the  attention  of  Druggists  and  Merchants  to  their  extensive  Stock,  embrac 
ing  every  thing  that  is  required  as  an  outfit  to  the  Druggist  and  Apothecary. 

To  the  country  Merchants  who  have  been  imposed  upon  by  worthless  Bottled  Goods, 
Essences,  &c.,  we  would  say,  that  what  we  offer  are  made  and  put  up  by  ourselves,  and 
may  be  relied  upon  as  much  superior  to  articles  of  this  class  usually  sold.  They  are  at 
as  LOW  PRICES  as  any  in  the  market,  and  being  of  superior  quality,  are  therefore  much 
CHEAPER.  Our 

FAMILY  MEDICINES,  ESSENCES,  ETC., 

Are  neatly  put  up  in  Paper  Boxes,  of  One  Dozen  Each. 

We  have  always  on  hand  a  large  Stock  of  HAVANA    CIGARS,  of  all  grades; 
Manufactured  TOBACCO,  of  the  most  approved  Brands;  TEAS,     f 
of  the  various  kinds,  in  packages  adapted  to  any  market. 

WINES,  BRANDIES,  &c.,  for  Medicinal  Purposes. 

AGENTS    for    LEONARD'S    PREPARATIONS.  -©a 


Orders  by  Mail,  with  Cash,  or  satisfactory  reference,  will  have  the  same  attention  and 
at  as  LOW  PRICES,  as  if  left  in  person. 


HANFORD    &    BROWNING, 

WSO'LJI  8  A  L  S 

CLOTHIERS, 

No.  326  and  328  Broadway, 

JOHN  E.  HANFORD.  1STFW     YO"RTC 

WILLIAM  C.  BROWNING.  1>  -Hi  YV        I  WlilV. 

Over  C.  W.  &  J.  T.  Moore  &  Co. 

A.    JOURNEAY,    JR., 

Imprte  attir  lEtolesale  grata  in 

Carpe  tings,    Druggets, 

2  OIL    CLOTHS,    ,  ,        : 

Cocoa  and  Canton  Mattings,  &c., 

No.  373  BROADWAY,  New  York, 

An  extensive  Stock  and  long  experience  in  the  business  enables  us 
to  fill  orders  for  Goods  promptly,  and  at  the  lowest  prices  for  Cash 
or  approved  Credit. 

JOHN     A.     BAKER, 

Manufacturer  of,  and  Dealer  in 

MILITARY     GOODS, 

No.  63  WALKER  STREET  (near  Broadway). 

flats,  Caps,   Swords,   Sashes,   Belts,  Horse   Equipments,  and  all 
Articles  for  the  Military,  furnished  at  short  notice. 

4S-  The  New  Style  of  FEENCH  FATIGUE  CAPS  on  hand  and  made  to  Order.  -=©0 


SAML.    HAMMOND    &    CO., 
IMPORTERS  OF   PINE   WATCHES, 

44  MERCHANTS'  EXCHANGE,  NEW  YOBK. 

We  are  desirous  of  drawing  attentioa  to  our  POCKET  CHRONOMETEBS 
and  fine  LEVEK  "WATCHES  with  Chronometer  Adjustments,  manufactured 
expressly  for  us  in  London,  which,  as  timekeepers  for  general  use  or  scientific  pur 
poses,  cannot  be  excelled.  jV.  B. — Rating  by  our  own  transit  observation. 

JOHN  W.  McKINLEYT" 

MERCHANT  TAILOR, 

AND 

Ready-made  Clothing 
,'      AND  FURNISHING  GOODS, 

413  BROADWAY,  cor.  Lispenard  St.,  New  York. 
CLOTHING  MANUFACTURED  FOR  SOUTHERN  HOUSES. 

THE    AMERICAN    PUMP. 

Patented    April    5,    1859. 

Works  by  Hand  in  all  Depths— Throws  Water  by  Hose  40  feet- 
Will  not  Rust,  will  not  Freeze — Raises  from  />  to  60  Gallons  per 
Minute.  Prices  from  $15  to  $60  :  Adapted  to  Cisterns, 
Railroads,  Machinery,  Irrigation,  etc. — Forces  Water  to  great 
Heights  and  Distances. 

"Mr.  Edney  is  a  North  Carolinian.  The  American  Pump  we 
know  to  be  a  simple  and  valuable  invention,  and  largely  used 
in  every  section,  North  and  South." — De  How's  Review. 

'  They  are  adapted  to  almost  every  purpose. " — N.  Y.Day-Book. 
'  We  consider  it  the  best  we  have  ever  seen. " — Galveston  News, 
Texas. 

'It  took  the  premium  at  our  State  Fair." — Raleigh  Reg.,  N.  0. 
'  We  never  saw  one  comparable  to  this. " — St.  Louis  Christ.  Ad. 
'  The  best  pump  we_ever  saw  ;  have  one  ourselves,  and  would 
recommend  it  to  everybody. " — Southern  Planter,  Richmond,  Va. 
"  One  man  forces  water  540  feet,  and  97  perpendicular." — Scien 
tific  American. 

"  One  could  force  water  anywhere  to  any  height." — Am.  Agriculturist. 
"  It  is  an  improvement  upon  any  other  pump  now  in  use  ;  any  boy  can  work  it  at  50, 
and  any  man  at  100  feet."— Miss.  Baptist. 
"  All  who  have  used  it,  speak  well  of  it." — N.  T.  Observer. 
"  It  is  wonderful  ;  send  me  two." — Dr.  M.  W.  Philips.  Miss. 

''  A  r/<j,i»ti/>f!  i'/iiprr>i)ernf.nt  and  no  humbug  ;  a  child  five  years  old  can  work  mine." 
— H.  J!/.  Fowlke.fi,  Esq.,  Va. 
Jttg-  Warranted  to  work.     Complete  Drawings,  Sizes,  and  Prices,  sent  free. 

JAMES  M.  EDNEY,  147  Chambers  St.,  New  York 


CLERK,    GREEN     &    BAKER, 

SUCCESSORS     TO    J.    &     T.    WA^RIN, 

MANUFACTURERS  AND  IMPORTERS  OF 

FISH  HOOKS,  FISH  LINES,  AND  FISHING  TACKLE 


Of  every  description,  which  they  offer  to  the  Trade  on  favorable  terms. 
C.,  G.  &  B.  having  erected  a  Factory  on  Canton  Street,  Brooklyn,  are  now  enabled  to 
execute  Orders  of  any  magnitude  for  FISH  HOOKS,  SPEAKS,  &c.,  &c.,  at  the  shortest 
notice,  and  from  the  best  quality  of  Steel  Wire.    Agents  for  Buel's  Patent  Spinning  Bait. 

Also,  Sole  Importers  of 

JOS.    WARRINS'    Celebrated    DRILLED-EYED     NEEDLES. 

Manufacturers  and  Importers  of  Drilled-Eyed    and    Common    Needles, 

Razors,  Scissors,  Steel  Pens,  Pearl  Buttons,  &c.,  &c. 

STORE,    48    MAIDEN    LANE,    New    York. 
4®*  The  genuine  Warrin's  Needles  will,  in  future,  have  across  every  Label  a  fac 
simile  of  Mr.  Jos.  Warrin's  signature. 

PENFOLD,  PARKER  &  MOWER, 

(LATE  PENFOLD,  CLAY  &  Co.) 

IMPORTERS  aiad  WH«MLESAL,E 

DRUGGISTS, 

No.    15    Beekxnan    Street, 

NEW    YORK. 

PURE  WINES  AND  LIQUORS, 


JOHN  P.  KELLOG  &  CO., 

IMPORTERS    OF 


44  Water  Street,  New  York, 

One  Block  below  Wall  Street 


FURNITURE!    FURNITURE! 

Wholesale  and  Retail, 

BY 

DECRAAF    *    TAYLOR, 

(Formerly  H.  P.  DEGRAAF,) 

No.  87  BOWERY,  NEW  YORK. 

This  Establishment  is  six  stories  in  height,  and  extends  242  feet  through  to  No.  63 
Christie  Street — making  it  one  of  the  largest  Furniture  Houses  in  the  United  States. 

They  are  prepared  to  offer  great  inducements  to  the  Wholesale  Trade,  for  Time  or 
Cash.  Their  stock  consists,  in  part,  of 

Rose-wood  Parlor  and  Chamber   Furniture  5  Mahogany  and 
Walnut  Parlor  and  Chamber  Furniture  5 

Also,  Cane  and  "Wood  Seat  work,  all  qualities ;  Hair,   Htisk  and 

Spring  Mattresses,  a  large  stock}  Enamelled  Chamber 

furniture,  in  sets,  from  $23  to  sfc'^OO. 

JENNY  LIND  AND  EXTENSION  POST  BEDSTEADS, 

Five  feet  wide,  especially  for  the  Southern  Trade. 

J8®~  Their  facilities  for  manufacturing  defy  competition.  All  work  guaranteed  as 
represented. 

NATIONAL    STOVE   WORKS, 

239  &  Hi  Water  St.,  N.Y., 

Manufacturers  and   Wholesale  and  Retail  Dealers  in 
every  variety  of 

Cooking  &•  Heating  Stoves,  for  Wood  or  Coal, 
Summer  or  Winter  ;  Confidence,  Ocean  Wave, 
Island  City,  Sentinel,  Surprise  and  Home 
stead  COOKING  STOVES,  are  unequalled  for 
Economy  and  Durability— they  have  been  well  tried. 

SANFORD'S  CHALLENGE  HEATER, 

Celebrated  for  Great  Durability,  Economy  of  Fuel,  and  Wonderful  Power  of  Heat  and 

Ventilation,  consuming  the  Gases  and  Smoke,  made  in  Portable 

and  Brick  Form. 

<Sy  Send  for  BOOK  OF  LETTERS,   of   unequalled    Testimony    from    private    Citizens 
Churches,  Schools,  &c. 

SANFORD'S  MAMMOTH  HEATER,  or  Globe,  of  strong  Cast-Iron,  for 
R.  R.  Depots,  Shops,  Factories,  Stores,  and  exposed  places,  Powerful  Heat  and  Dura 
bility  is  required  on  the  most  Economizing  Plan.  Challenge  Air-Tight 
Kitchen  Range,  for  Wood  and  Coal,  made  to  set  in  Fire-Place  without  Bricking, 
or  set  out  as  a  Stove — with  Double  and  Single  Oven.  The  most  substantial  and  the 
largest  Oven  in  the  World.  Every  family  should  have  one.  Cosmopolite  Gas 
Burner  just  out,  and  a  beautiful  PARLOR  STOVE — very  desirable  Radiator. 

Manufacturers  of  Stove  Hollow  Ware,  Stove  Polish,  Stove  Fixtures, 
Summer  Ranges,  Furnaces,  and  all  Goods  pertaining  to  th>«  Tr;i<U>. 

>8®=-  For  Cuts  and  Drawings  of  our  Stoves,  &c,,  address, 

SANFORD,  TRUSLOW  &  CO., 
239  and  241  Water  Street,  New  York. 


mi 


»  «  o 


LATHROP     *    WILKINSON, 

Importers  and  Wholesale  Dealers  in 

Foreign  &  Domestic  Fancy  Goods, 

PEKFUMERY  AND  JEWELRY, 

COMBS,    BRUSHES,    BUTTONS,    WOOD    AND 
WILLOW  WARE. 

EXCLUSIVELY  FOR  THE  SOUTHERN  TRADE 
15  MURRAY  Street,  New  York. 

PAOLI  LATHROR  FREDERICK  WILKINSO? 

ANDREWS,   GILES,   SANFORD   &   CO., 

Importers  and  Jobbers  of 

RIBBONS,  SILKS,  MILLINERY, 

AND 

STRAW     GOODS, 

No.    100    CHAMBERS    ST.,   New  York. 

E.  T.  AUDREWS.  G.  H.  SANFORD,  formerly  of  the  firm  of  PINKEO&C* 

W    0.  GILES.  L.  W.  SMITH. 

BEAN    &    RAYMOND, 

IMPORTERS    OF 

Brandies,    Wines,    &c., 

AND 

COMMISSION    MERCHANTS, 
97  PEARL  and  60  STONE  STS.,  NEW  YORK. 


WILLIAM    W,  WRIGHT    &   CO,, 

252    BROADWAY, 

NEW    YORK, 

OPPOSITE    THE    CITY    HALL, 
IMPORTERS  AND  JOBBERS  OF 

SILK  AND  FANCY  DRESS  GOODS, 

RIBBONS  AND  DRESS  TRIMMINGS, 

SHAWLS,  CLOAKS  AND  MANTILLAS, 

GLOVES,  LACES   AND   EMBROIDERIES, 

&c.,  &c.,  &c.,  &c.,  &c 

DURYEE,    JAQUES    &    CO., 

Late  Rankin,  Duryee  &  Co,, 

Manufacturers,  Importers,  and  Wholesale  Dealers  in 

HATS,  GAPS  AND  STRAW  GOODS, 

326   BROADWAY   328 


DURYEE,  JAQTJES  &  CLEARMAN, 

29  Magazine  St.,  NEW  ORLEANS 

FACTORY: 

Beaver  St.,  Newark,  BT.  J. 


ATWATER,  MUIFORD  &  CO,, 

Commission   Jttmljants, 

Importers  and  Dealers  in 

LIQUORS,  WINES,  TEAS,  TOBACCOS,  SEGARS, 

AND  GROCERIES  GENERALLY, 
Nos.  35  &  37  Broad  St., 

CllStOin     HoUSC, 

N"F1W    YO"R"K" 

1>I  JU  TT  JL  WXiJX. 


W.  C.  ATWATER. 

J.    II.    MCLFORD. 


N.  PECK  SMITH. 


BRITIOH&CO. 

No.  11 

BROAD  STREET 

FEW  YOKE, 

IMPORTERS      OF 

BRANDIES,    GINS    AND    WINES. 

Sole  Importers  of  AKBOUIN,  MARETT  &  Co.'s 

COGNAC   BRANDIES,   TULIP   GIN; 

AND 

MOET      &•      CHANDON'S 

BOUZY  CABINET  AND   FLEUR   DE  BOUZY  CHAMPAGNES, 

Which  they  offer  for  Sals  from  U.  S.  Bonded  Warehouse. 


. 

IMPOETEES, 


MANUFACTURERS  AND  WHOLESALE 

DEALEBS    IN 

Hats,  Gaps,  and  Straw  Goods, 
BOMBTS,  BLOOMERS,  FLATS,  FLOWERS, 

UMBRELLAS,  PARASOLS,  Ac. 

Nos.  120  Chambers  and  50  Warren 
Streets,  New  York. 

FACTORY;  388,  390  &  392  BROADWAY,  ALBANY,  N,  Y,, 

Are  constantly  receiving  from  their  Factory,  and  from  their 
European  Agents,  every  thing  new  and  desirable  in  their  line, 
and  are  determined  to  show  to  their  friends  and  the  trade  a 
stock  which  for  freshness  of  style,  detail  and  finish,  will  be  un 
surpassed  in  this  market,  and  to  which  the  attention  of  first- 
class  buyers  is  solicited. 

CATALOGUES,   containing  List  of  Articles   comprising 
their  Stock,  with  Prices  attached,  sent  by  mail  on  application. 


MELIUS,  CURRIER  &  SHERWOOD, 

No.  42  Warren  Street, 

NEW    YORK, 
manufacturers    and    Dealers    in 

Boots,  Shoes  4  Brogans, 

IN  ALL  TH£  VARIETIES  SUITABLE 
FOR  THE 

SOUTHERN  &  SOUTHWESTERN  TRADE. 

M.  C.  &  S.  manufacture  directly  a  large  portion  of  their 
heavy  Stock,  including  Wax,  Kip  Russet,  Thick  and 
Split  Brogans,  employing  workmen  on  their  own 
Premises  to  cut  and  prepare  the  Stock  for  making ;  and  from 
their  own  knowledge  of  Stock  before  cutting,  as  well  as  the  fa 
cilities  they  have  for  buying  Leather  at  all  times,  (this  City 
being  the  great  Sole  Leather  Market  of  this  Continent,)  feel  as 
sured  that  they  can  furnish  these  goods  of  the  best  quality  in 
every  respect,  and  at  a  fair  price.  Shoes  of  their  make  will 
be  free  from  shingle  insoles  or  pasteboard  filling.  They  fully 
believe  that  they  make  and  sell  the  best  Oak  Russet  and 
\Vax  ISrog'an  made  or  sold  in  any  market 

They  also  manufacture  Ladies  Shoes  and  Gaiters 
of  the  finer  qualities,  giving  personal  attention  to  Getting  Up, 
Style,  &c.,  and  think  they  combine  durability  with  beauty, 
without  sacrificing  the  former  too  much  to  the  latter. 

Fine  DRESS  HOOTS  and  GAITERS  for  Gen 
tlemen,  are  made  by  Manufacturers  whom  they  have  tried  for  a 
long  time  and  know  they  understand  their  Trade. 

Their  PEGGED  SHOES,  for  Women  and  Servants'  Wear, 
are  bought  of  the  best  Manufacturers,  and  in  all  cases  the 
greatest  care  is  exercised  to  have  this  class  of  work  good  and 
durable. 

New  York,  April,  1860. 

\ 


J8®-  A  GREAT  SUPPORT  AND  COMFORT. 

ALLCOCK'S  POROUS  PLASTERS  are  the  most  useful  articles  of  the  kind  yet  introduced 
to  the  public.  They  are  entirely  pleasant ;  they  do  not  roll  up  in  heaps,  they  do  not 
adhere  to  your  linen  ;  they  only  adhere  to  the  skin,  aud  they  are  pleasant,  because  they 
are  flexible.  They  are  the  ibest  strengthening  plaster,  and  are  admirable  lor  skin  dis 
eases,  especially  moth  of  the  skin  (lichen),  and  all  unsightly  discolorations,  which  they 
surely  cure. 

In  affections  of  the  kidneys,  in  nervous  diseases,  stitches,  and  epilepsy,  their  use 
over  the  small  of  the  back  or  over  the  sacrum,  or  where  the  pain  is  located,  is  attended 
with  the  best  results. 

ALLCOCK'S  POROUS  PLASTERS  resolve  and  assuage  pain  by  calling  forth  the  acrid 
humors  from  parts  internal  to  the  skin  and  general  circulation.     JAMES  LULL,  M.D. 
One  Thousand  Dollars'  worth  Sold. 

SINU  SING,  July  21, 1859. 

This  may  certify,  that  we  have  sold  within  the  past  five  years,  at  least  one  thousand 
dollars'  worth  of  Allcock's  Porous  Plasters.  They  have  invariably  givea  satisfaction, 
and  we  consider  theaa  the  best  article  of  the  kind  made  or  sold. 

H.  H.  JONES  &  BRO.,  Apothecaries  and  Chemists. 
HARTFORD,  Con.,  Jan.,  4,  1860. 

"  Messrs.  ALLCOCK  ,&  Co. — Gentlemen — We  are  retailing  in  our  place  quite  a  quantity 
of  the  Perforated  Plaster.     Will  you  please  name  your  lowest  cash  price  per  gross  on  de 
livery  ?     We  find  your  Plasters  give  the  best  satisfaction  for  the  various  maladies  for 
which  they  are  recommended  of  any  plaster  extant.     Your  early  attention  is  desired. 
"  Yours  respectfully,  J.  W.  JOHNSON  &  CO." 

NERVOUS  AFFECTIONS  CURED.— Julius  Metz.  Esq.,  of  Brooklyn,  the  well-known 
professor  of  music,  was  long  subject  to  an  atfection  of  the  muscles  of  the  chest,  attended 
with  most  violent  spasmodic  asthma.  His  physical  sufferings  were  great,  and  his  pro 
fessional  duties  much  interfered  with.  The  application  of  one  plaster  cured  him. 

All  Physicians  who  have  ever  seen  these  Plasters,  recommend  them.  Mr.  Caifassi,  Dr. 
Vaillaindet,  and  Dr.  Jacquinot,  report  that  probably  these  Plasters  are  specifics  in  all 
diseases  of  the  skin  surface.  Their  value  is  beyond  dispute. 

Hear  what  HON.  CARL  SCHULTZE,  of  Chicago,  says :  CHICAGO,  Sept.  26,  1S59. 

To  the  Editors  of  the  New  York  Criminal  Zeitung:— Gentlemen— I  shall  feel  obliged 
if  you  will  inform  your  friend,  Dr.  Deichman,  that  I  have  quite  recovered  from  severe 
pains  in  my  chest,  from  which  I  have  so  long  suffered.  Allcock's  Porous  Plaster  cured 
me,  of  which  he  spoke  so  highly.  I  had  tried  almost  everything  to  relieve  the  pain, 
without  any  benefit,  before  1  used  the  plaster,  which,  strange  to  say,  in  a  few  days  after 
putting  it  on,  perfectly  relieved  me.  I  have  worn  the  plasters  for  the  last  nine  months, 
changing  once  in  a  week  or  two,  without  any  return  of  the  pain  in  my  chest,  or  the  least 
difficulty  in  taking  any  kind  of  food.  This  can  be  attested  by  all  my  friends  and  my  fa 
mily.  Show  Deichman  this  letter,  and  please  to  publish  it  in  your  paper. 

Most  respectfully,  CARL  SCHULTZE. 

NOTE  BY  EDITORS  en?  CRIMINAL  ZEITUNQ.— We  insert  this  letter  with  pleasure,  as  it 
affords  us  an  opportunity  for  saying,  that  any  one  afllicteu  with  pain  in  the  chest,  accom 
panied  with  indigestion,  can  by  applying  at  this  office,  receive  ample  testimony  from 
one  who  has  been  restored  to  health  by  these  very  Plasters  of  Mr.  Ailcock,  which  he 
used  for  six  months  for  a  similar  affection. 

CURE  FOR  HOOPING  COUGH.— In  fact,  their  use  in  these  cases  acts  like  a  charm, 
Place  one  upon  the  chest,  so  that  it  reaches  an  inch  or  so  over  the  diaphragm.  In  tic- 
doloureux,  place  a  piece  of  plaster  upon  the  part  affected  ;  relief  will  soon  come,  lit 
moth  of  the  skin  and  all  discolorations,  in  asthma,  consumptions,  and  coughs,  they  have 
qualities  which  surpass  all  other  remedies  whatsoever. 

HOOPING  COUGH.  CAYUGA,  Hinds  Co.,  Miss. 

T.  ALLCOCK  &  Co. — Gentlemen — Please  send  me  another  six  dozen  of  your  Porous 
Plasters.  They  are  in  a  great  demand  here  for  Hooping  Cough.  They  act  like  a  charm. 
I  could  have  sold  two  dozen  this  week,  if  I  had  had  them.  Send  as  soon  as  possible, 
and  oblige  yours,  respectfully,  JOHN  L.  WILLIAMS,  Postmaster. 

LAME  BACK.  NEW  YORK,  Nov.  23, 1859. 

T.  ALLCOCK  &  Co. — Gentlemen — I  lately  suffered  severely  from  a  weakness  in  my 
back,  occasioned  by  suddenly  over-exerting  myself.  Having  heard  your  Plasters  much 
recommended  for  cases  of  this  kind,  I  procured  one,  and  the  result  was  all  that  I  could 
desire.  A  single  plaster  cured  me  in  a  week.  Yours,  respectfully, 

J.  BRIGGS,  Proprietor  of  the  Brandreth  House. 
AN  IMPORTANT  LETTER. 

SHRUB  OAK,  YORKTOWN,  N.  Y.,  Jan.  19, 1860. 

"T.  ALLCOCK  &  Co. — Gentlemen — I  have  been  troubled  with  a  lame  back  over  ten 
years,  so  as  to  be  entirely  helpless  and  unable  to  do  any  kind  of  farm  work.  In  June 
last  I  procured  one  of  Allcock's  Porous  Plasters,  and  wore  it  three  weeks,  when  I  found 
my  back  entirely  cured,  aud  was  able  to  mow  and  cradle  as  well  as  ever  I  could  in  my 
best  days.  These  Plasters  should  be  in  every  house.  I  never  believed  that  any  exter 
nal  remedy  could  be  so  powerful  and  so  good  as  these  Plasters.  Their  effect  on  me 
seems  miraculous,  aud  I  thank  God  that  I  used  them.  They  have  entirely  restored  my 
health  and  vigor.  STEPHEN  PUGSLEY." 

By  sending  $1  to  T.  ALLCOCK  &  CO.,  No.  4  Union  Square,  New  York,  four  Plasters  will 
uo  sent  to  any  part  of  the  Unitod  States,  free  of  charge.  Principal  office,  No.  4  Union 
Square,  and  Down  Town  Office,  No.  294  Canal  street,  New  York.  Price  25  cents  each. 
ALLCOCK'S  PLASTERS  can  bo  obtained  generally  from  Druggists.  25  cents  each. 


GRANVILLE  STOKES, 

MIRCHAIT  TAILOR, 

607  CHESTNUT  STREET, 

PHILADELPHIA. 


Hie  finest  ENGLISH,  FRENCH,  and  AMERICAN  Fabrics,  made 

up  by  the  best  Cutters  and  Artists  in  the 

United  States. 


A  large  and  superior  stock  of  desirable 


)f  the  latest  styles,  comprising  every  article  of  Gentlemen's 
wear,  always  on  hand,  and  made  to  order. 


607   CHESTNUT   STREET 


GREAT  HIT,  CAP 


ESTABLISHMENT, 

WHOLESALE  AND  RETAIL, 
Nos,  826  and  828  CHESTNUT  STREET, 

(UNDER  THE  CONTINENTAL  HOTEL,) 

PHILADELPHIA. 


WHOLESALE  DEALERS  will  find  it  greatly  to  their  advantage  to  purchase 
.  t  this  establishment,  as  our  facilities  enable  us  to  sell  our  goods  at  the 
lowest  possible  prices.  We  keep  a  large  line  of  WOOL  HATS,  in  con 
nection  with  fine  goods  at  all  prices.  Occupying  two  stores,  we  have 
ample  room  fo  r  our  extensive  wholesale  business. 


f  ulitmss  anft  jfair 

is  the  ruling  motto  of  this  house. 


LIQUORS    AMD    CIGARS. 

MEEKS,  GORMAN  *  MEEKS, 

No.  58  LIBERTY  STREET,  NEW  YOKE, 

Importers  and  Dealers  in 

BRANDIES,    WINES,    GINS,    &C. 

Have  in  Bond— Prnnier,   Hennessy,  Otard,  Soriu   Alue,  Pinet- 
Castillon  and  Marrett  Brandies. 

Sole  Agents  for  CRESCENT  COGNAC,  1810. 

Agents  for  Old  Monongahela,  Rye    and  Bourbon  Whiskeys*  in 
barrels,  half  barrels  and  cases. 

"BURNETT'S  OLD  TOM  GIN,"  LONDON  CORDIAL,  a  Family, 

Table  and  Medicinal  Tonic,  unequalled  for  its  purity 

and  delicacy  of  flavor— in  casks  and  cases. 

Always  on  hand  a  fall  assortment  of  Champagnes,  Sherry,  Madeira,  Port, 

from  \V.  Chillingworth  &  Sous,  London,  imported 

by  us  in  casks  and  cases. 

HAVANA,  GERMAN  and  DOMESTIC  CIGARS, 

OF  EVERT  STYLE  AND  GRADE. 

LANES,  BOYCB  &  CO., 

Importers  and  Wholesale  Dealers  in 


t 

Adapted  to  the  Southern  Trade 

194  BROADWAY, 

NEW    YORK. 


LAFARGE      HOUSE, 

BROADWAY,    NEW    YORK. 

HENRY  WHEELER,  P.  T.  JAMES,  SUPERINTENDENT, 

PROPRIETOR.  Late  of  American  Exchance,  San  Francisco. 

J8G$~  We  can  cheerfully  recommend  this  Hotel  as  one  of  the  best  in  New  York,  and 
one  in  every  respect  deserving  the  patronage  of  onr  Southern  friends. 


ESTABLISHED     1760. 


DPIETEIR, 


O  IR,  I  L  L 


ID, 


SNUFF  AND  TOBACCO  MANUFACTURER, 

Nos.  16  and  IB  CHAMBERS  ST., 

(Formerly    4:3    Chatham    Street,   NEW    YORK), 

Would  call  the  attention  of  Grocers  and  Druggists  to  his  Removal,  and  also  to  the  arti 
cles  of  his  manufacture. 


SUPERIOR 


HOES. 


TUTTLE  MANUFACTURING  COMPANY, 


M  A  Xtf  JP  AC  T  U  R  E  R  S       OF 


SOLID    SHANK    HOES 


OF    ALL    KINDS; 

HAY  and  MANURE  FORKS,  POTATO  and  MANURE 

HOOKS,  SLUICE  and  GARDEN  RAKES, 

SPADING  PORKS,  &c.,  &c. 

These  Goods  are  Manufactured  of  the  Best  Refined  Cast  Steel,  and  Warranted  in 
every  respect. 

DEPOT,    No.   33    DEY    STREET,    NEW    YORK. 

JOHN  W.  COB.LIES    &.    CO.,   SOLE    A6XSXVTS. 

J.  W.  C.  &  Co.,  are  also  Agents   for  various  Manufacturers  of 
American  Hardware. 


A  NEW  AND  SINGULAR  CHAPTER 

% 

IN  THE  HISTORY  OF 

MRS.    CUNN1NCHAM-BURDELL. 


She  visits  a  Matrimonial  Office  in  Forty-third  Street — Is  Introduce./ 
to  Mr.  Fitzgerald  of  St.  Louis — Her  Appearance  and  Dress — Her 
Opinion  of  Domestic  Peace  and  of  New  York  Ladies — She  ofl'ers 
to  find  a  Model  Wife — Her  Sentiments  on  Love,  Marriage,  and 
Divorce — Is  a  Free  Lover — Mrs.  Willis,  the  Broker — Discourse  ot 
Ghosts — She  Relates  the  Wonderful  Story  of  a  Clock — Fitzgerald 
Makes  a  Remark  about  Dead  Men,  and  Cunningham  gets  Nervous 
—An  Important  Confession  about  her  Marriage — She  Tells  her 
Age — She  Offers  to  Cure  Fitzgerald  of  a  Cold — Wants  him  to  go 
and  Drink  a  Punch  of  her  Making — He  thinks  of  the  Bloody  Work 
in  Bond  Street,  and  Declines — She  Accepts  Five  Dollars  as  a 
Slight  Token  of  Respect — She  Discourses  of  Murders  and  Execu 
tions — Is  Opposed  to  Capital  Punishment — Denounces  the  Re 
porters  as  a  Meddlesome,  Lying  Set  of  Vultures — Her  Opinion  of 
the  Tombs  as  a  Residence — A  Decisive  Meeting — Cunningham 
Wants  a  Set  of  Furs— She  Offers  to  Take  Charge  of  Fitzgerald's 
Household  Affairs — Wants  him  to  Take  a  House  Up-town— Mr. 
Fitzgerald  Attempts  to  Get  Away,  but  is  Seized  by  Cunningham 
and  Detained  by  Force — He  Makes  another  Present,  and  gets  into 
the  Hall,  which  is  Dark — He  Finds  Himself  Locked  In — He  Calls 
in  Vain  to  be  Released — He  Gets  into  the  Parlor — Resolves  to 
Smash  a  Window — Interesting  Denouement — Where  Mrs.  Cun 
ningham  Went  after  the  Meeting. 

In  November  last,  a  young  man,  giving  the  name  of  C.  Frank 
Fitzgerald,  of  St.  Louis,  Mo.,  went  to  the  Matrimonial  Office  of  Mrs. 
Jessie  Willis,  No.  —  West  Forty-third  street,  in  tujs  city — an  offioo 
which  was  started  in  the  summer  of  1858,  and  has  been  quite  ex. 
tensively  advertised.  We  copy  the  following  specimen  of  the  ad 
vertisements  from  the  New  York  Herald,  of  January  27th : 

"  MKS.  JESSIE  WILLIS  will  give  introduction  to  ladies  and  gentle 
men  with  a  view  to  matrimony,  at  her  office,  —  West  Forty-third 
street,  from  3  to  8  p.  M.  Parties  suited  ;  references  required.  Gen 
tlemen's  fee  $1 :  ladies  free.  Letters  from  the  country  must  be 
post-paid,  with  return  letter  stamps.  N.  B.— All  business  confi 
dential." 


I  saved  Dr.  Kane's  Life  when  in  the  Arctic  Ocean,  and  he 
denounces  me  in  his  book  as  a  Deserter." 


GODFREY'S  NARRATIVE 

OF    THE 

LAST    GRINNELL 


SHIP    ON    A 


Arctic  Exploring  Expedition. 


5O       OE3STTS. 


'f 

PHILADELPHIA, 

Corner  of  Chestnut  and  Ninth  Streets. 


OPENED  IN  FEBEUAET,  1860. 


This  magnificent  Establishment  has  been  erected  by  a  stock 
subscription,  at  a  cost  of 

MORE  THAN  A  MILLION  DOLLARS, 

with  the  sole  object  of  affording  the  many  Yisitors  to  the  Key 
stone  Metropolis 

THE  MOST  COMMODIOUS  HOTEL  IN  THE  WORLD. 


Ample  accommodations  are  afforded  for  1,®4)O 
with  every  modern  improvement  which  experience  could  sug 
gest  for  the  comfort  of  the  traveler.  The  interior  arrange 
ment  and  furnishing  have  been  completed  under  the  personal 
supervision  of  PASSAT  STEVENS,  the  F^e§sce, 
and  the  CONTINENTAL  will  be  conducted  upon  the  same  SCALE 
OF  LIBERALITY  by  which  he  has  previously  established  the  well- 
known  popularity  of  the  BATTLE  HOUSE  and  POINT 
CLEAR  HOTEL,  in  Mobile,  Ala.,  and  the  FIFTH 
AVENUE  HOTEL,  in  Hew  York. 


Pleasure  tourists  will  find  Philadelphia  a  delightful 
point  for  sojourn  during  the  early  summer  and  autumn,  and 
find  at  the  CONTINENTAL  all  the  comforts  of  a,  luxurious  home. 


THE 


GIRARD  HOUSE, 

PHILADELPHIA. 


PRESBURY,  SYKES  &  CO.,  PROPRIETORS. 


THE  Proprietors  of  this  deservedly-celebrated  Hotel,  winch 
is  located  in  the  central  portion  of  the  most  fashionable  street 
in  the  city,  beg  to  announce  to  their  friends  and  the  public, 
that,  grateful  for  the  extensive  patronage  they  have  received 
from  the  first  day  "  The  Girard  House"  was  opened  to  the 


THE   GIBARD  HOUSE. 

present  time,  they  have  determined  that  neither  pains  nor 
expense  shall  be  wanting,  not  only  to  maintain  the  proud 
supremacy  it  has  hitherto  enjoyed,  but  to  render  it  the  most 
complete  and  magnificent  establishment  in  the  world. 

With  this  view,  and  in  anticipation  of  spring  travel,  the 
House  has  been  entirely  redecorated  and  refurnished,  fro  IE 
top  to  bottom. 

A  NEW  AND  SPLENDID  BILLIARD  ROOM 

has  just  been  completed,  and  furnished  with  PHELAN'S 
CELEBKATED  PATENT  TABLES,  for  the  sole  use  of 
the  guests  of  the  house  and  their  friends. 

THE  TABLE  OF  THE  GIRARD  HOUSE 

has  long  been  celebrated  throughout  the  Union  for  its  pro 
fuse  liberality  and  recherche  elegance ;  but,  in  order  that 
nothing  may  be  wanting  to  render  it  perfect  in  every  depart^ 
ment,  and  worthy  of  its  unprecedented  fame  an  additional 
staff  of  FKENCH,  ITALIAN,  and  GKEKMAN  AETISTES 
have  been  engaged,  for  the  preparation  of  those  dishes  for 
which  their  several  countries  are  celebrated — thus  combining, 
in  the  daily  "carte"  solid  American  comfort  with  the  tasteful 
luxury  of  Continental  Europe. 


GOLD  MEDAL  PERFUMERY. 
R.  &  G.  A.  WRIGHT, 

No.  624  Chestnut  Street,  Philadelphia, 

MANUFACTURERS 


The  Manufacturers  of  this  well-known  brand  beg  leave  to  call  the  attention  of  the  trade  to  the 
large  variety  of  new  styles  they  have,  and  are  constantly  adding  to  their  stock,  consisting  of 

Colognes,  Hair  Oils,  Pomades, 

Extracts,  Toilet  Waters,  Cosmetics, 

Soaps,  Hair  Dye,  Shaving  Creams. 

All  of  which  have  been  sold  for  years  in  the  Southern  market,  and  have  never  spoiled,  thereby 
assuring  the  purchaser  advantages  that  no  other  Manufacturers  can  offer. 

In  addition  to  the  above,  they  have  a  large  and  well-selected  stock  of 

FRENCH  AND  ENGLISH  NOVELTIES  AND  DRUGGISTS'  ARTICLES, 
Additions  to  which  are  received  by  every  steamer. 

Goods  Imported  to  order,  and  Catalogues  mailed  on  demand.  A  call  is 
solicited  from  the  Trade.  Orders  by  mail  carefully  and  promptly 
attended  to. 

WHOLESALE   ONLY. 

SHARPS' 

PATENT  BREECH-LOADING  REPEATING 
PISTOL. 


WEIGHS  BUT  8}  OUNCES. 

Cair  be  stowed  in  an  ordinary-sized  vest  pocket,  shoots  accurately,  penetrates  an  inch  pine 
board  at  150  yards,  and  can  be  loaded  and  fired  with  astonishing  rapidity. 

One  hundred  Cartridges,  ready  for  use,  WATER-PROOF,  can  be  carried  in  an  ordinary-sized 
tobacco  box. 

For  sale  by  the  Trade  generally,  and  by  the  undersigned.  SOLE  AGENTS  FOR  ALL  FIRE 
ARMS  MANUFACTURED  BY  C.  SHARPS  &  CO. 

HANDY  &  BRENNER, 

HARDWARE  MERCHANTS, 
23.  25.  and  27  N.  FIFTH  STREET,  PHILADELPHIA. 


MODEL  GUN  STORE. 
PHILIP  WILSON  &  CO., 

No.  432  Chestnut  Street,  Philadelphia, 

MANUFACTURERS  OP 

SUPERIOR  DOUBLE  BUS, 

Of  every  description,  which  they  WARRANT  in  the  fullest  manner.    They  compare  favorably 
"BOTH  AS  TO  1'INISH  AND  PERFECTION  IN  SHOOTING,"  with  the  best  London  Guiis, 
AND   AT    ONE-THIRD   LESS   COST. 

Every  Gun  made  by  us  is  fully  tested  before  leaving  our  shop. 

In  addition  to  our  own  make,  we  are  constantly  receiving  Guns  from  the  best  makers  in  Eng 
land,  France,  and  Belgium,  viz.  :  WESTLEY  RICHARDS,  WM.  GREENER,  MOORE  &  HARRIS 
HOLLIS  &  SHEATH,  with  others  of  less  note  and  cheaper  grades. 

GUN  TRIMMINGS 

Of  all  variety, 

FISHING  TACKLE 

Of  every  description,  and 

CRICKET  BATS,  BALLS,  ETC. 

Agents  for  G.  W.  Burgess's  Celebrated  Trout  Rods. 

J.  BARTRAM  &  BROTHER, 

WHOLESALE  &  RETAIL 


m&    ttimnti, 


AND    DEALERS    IN 

DRUGS,  MEDICINES,  FIRE  CHEMICALS,  PAINTS,  OILS,  GLASS 
AND  DYE-STUFFS. 

Wholesale  Depot  for 
WHEATING'S  PILLS,  &  BARTRAM'S  LIQUID  GLUE, 

CHEAPEST  IN  THE  COUNTRY. 

N.  W.  COR,  SECOND  &  RACE, 

Philadelphia,  Pa, 

For  its  remedial  value,  and  intrinsic 
worth  in  renovating  weakened  constitu 
tions,  see  evidence  of  its  character  from 
certificates  of 

MESS'S.  BOOTH,  GARRET.  &  CAMAC, 

Analytical  Chemists,  Philadelphia. 

JAMES  R.  CHILTON, 

M.  D.,  New  York. 

A.  A.  HAYES, 

State  Assayer,  Boston. 

For  sale  by  C.  WHAETON,  116  Walnut  gt,,  Phila, 


DR.    HOOFLAND'S 

CELEBRATED  GERMAN  BITTERS 

WILL  POSITIVELY  CURE 

Liver  Complaint,  Dyspepsia,  Nervous  Debility,  Fever  &  Ague,  &c 

AND  WILL  POSITIVELY  PREVENT 

Yellow  Fever,  Bilious  Fever,  $c. 

«•» 

READ  THE  EVIDENCE. 

From  J.  Maginnis,  of  the  New  Orleans  True  Delta. 

NEW  ORLEANS,  July  20, 1859. 

MESSRS.  C.  M.  JACKSON  &  Co. — Gentlemen :  I  have  for  a  long  time  looked  upon  your  lloofland'i 
German  Bitters  as  the  very  best  Dyspeptic  preparation  extant.  But  I  am  now  disposed  to  accord  toil 
etill  higher  merit.  I  find  that  it  will  effectually  prevent  prevent  the  ravages  of  that  scourge  of 
this  climate — Yellow  Fever.  During  the  prevalence  of  that  disease  last  summer,  I  had  ampla 
opportunity  of  witnessing  its  efficacy;  and  I  firmly  believe  that  even  an  unacclimated  person, 
with  proper  precaution  and  the  use  of  your  Bitters  as  directed,  could  safely  summer  it  in  New 
Orleans.  As  a  preventive  of  Fever  and  Ague,  also,  I  cheerfully  endorse  all  you  claim  for  it. 

Respectfully  Yours, 

JOHN  MAGINNIS, 
Proprietor  of  True  Delta. 

From  T.  Richardson,  Esq.,  of  the  Galveston  Neics. 

GALVESTON,  Texas,  Sept.  25.  1858. 

DR.  C.  M.  JACKSON. — Dea?  Sir :  You  suggested  to  me,  before  leaving  Philadelphia,  to  take  a  few 
bottles  of  your  Bitters  along,  as  a  preventive  against  Yellow  Fever,  which  is  now  raging  here  and 
in  New  Orleans.  I  did  so,  and  used  it  freely  on  my  route  home.  I  was  accompanied  by  several 
Texans,  who  also  took  it  as  prescribed,  none  of  us  having  had  the  Fever  except  myself.  All 
passed  through  New  Orleans  without  being  attacked  by  the  epidemic,  and  some  of  them  whom 
I  have  since  met  attribute  their  escape,  in  a  great  measure,  to  the  use  of  your  excellent  specific. 
From  what  I  have  heard  from  other  sources,  and  my  own  experience,  I  have  no  hesitation  in 
saying,  I  believe  Hoofland's  German  Bitters  an  excellent  article  for  the  prevention  of  Yellow 
Fever  and  many  other  diseases  peculiar  to  the  South,  if  taken  in  time  and  as  directed. 

Yours  Truly, 

T.  RICHARDSON, 
Editor  and  Proprietor  of  Galveston  "  News." 

IMPORTANT    TO    SEAFARING    MEN. 

PHILADELPHIA,  Oct.  27,  1858. 

DR.  C.  M.  JACKSON.— Dear  Sir:  I  sailed  from  this  port  in  August  last,  in  the  barque  "Rein- 
deer,"  of  which  I  am  Master,  with  a  crew  of  ten  men,  bound  to  Havana.  As  I  knew  the  Yellow 
Fever  was  raging  with  great  virulence  in  that  city,  and  had  beard  of  the  good  effects  of  the  Bit 
ters  in  preventing  the  attacks  of  that  terrible  disease,  I  provided  myself  with  a  supply  of  it. 
Before  reaching  my  port,  I  commenced  the  administration  of  the  Bitters  regularly  to  all  on 
board.  On  reaching  Havana,  I  found  a  number  of  vessels  in  the  harbor,  among  the  crews  of 
which  the  Fever  was  committing  great  ravages;  on  board  of  three  of  them,  not  a  soul  was  left 
alive — the  Fever  had  carried  all  off.  Naturally,  great  alarm  prevailed.  I  am  most  happy  to  say, 
that  with  the  exception  of  one  of  my  crew,  who  deserted  in  Havana,  we  have  all  come  back  safe 
and  sound — not  one  of  us  having  been  attacked.  I  believe  Hoofland's  German  Bitters  to  be  an 
excellent  medicine,  and  am  satisfied  of  its  salutary  effects  as  a  preventive  of  Yellow  Fever,  as  it 
Is  a  very  unusual  thing  for  a  vessel  with  so  many  persons  on  board  to  visit  the  island  of  Cuba  in 
A  igust  or  September,  and  return  without  the  loss  of  at  least  a  portion  of  her  crew. 

GEO.  W.  ALLEN, 
Master,  Barque  Reindeer. 

Prepared  only  by 

DR,  C,  M.  JACKSON  &  CO., 

418  Arch  Street,  Philadelphia. 
And  for  Sale  l>y  Druggists  and  Dealers  Generally. 

Price,  75  cents  per  Bottle. 


-No.  4  Sharp  Loop.  Style— No.  3  D'Orsay. 

"  AN  IRREPRESSIBLE  CONFLICT  !" 

THE  "PECULIAR  INSTITUTION  "  ATTACKED! 

For  some  time  have  these  words  been  sounding  in  the 
public  ear,  and  yet  imperceptiby  has  this  conflict  been 
going  on,  and  now  the  "peculiar  institution"  is  being 
thrust  from  our  very  firesides.  Be  not  alarmed.  It  is  a 
conflict  ingeniously  conceived,  the  "  peculiar  institution" 
energetically  attacked,  and  the  right  victouous  beyond  a 
doubt. 

In  the  words  of  our  .cotemporary,  the  Public  Ledger, 
"peace  will  reign  in  families  where  discord  once  prevailed 
and  men  can  retire  to  rest  with  the  pleasing  consciousness 
that  when  they  awake  a  clean  collar  awaits  them,  even  if 
they  have  not  paid  their  washerwomen."  Let  it  be  our 
task  to  throw  light  on  this  dark  subject,  and  remove  a  load 
of  doubt  f~om  the  public  mind.  The  "  peculiar  institu 
tion",  as  we  understand  it.  means  the  linen  co-liar,  and  the 
"  irrepressible  conflict"  is  the  conflict  now  going  on  be 
tween  the  Linen  Collar  and  the  Gent's  Patent  Enameled. 
The  first  is  an  imported  article,  and  the  country  pays  her 
thousands  yearly  for  it — and  not  only  that,  but  she  pays 
one  hundred  per  cent,  more  to  keep  clean  an  article  in 
ferior  to  one  manufactured  at  home,  and  that  costs  one- 
half  less  than  it  does  to  clean  the  imported  one,  and  the 
first  cost  of  which  is  but  one-tenth  of  that  of  the  import 
ed.  As  all  things  are  best  decided  by  a  practical  test,  go 
to  any  Gents'  Furnishing  Store  in  the  United  States,  and 
for  25  cents  you  can  make  a  satisfactory  trial.  If  the 
proprietor  of  any  Gents' Furnishing  Store,  or  of  any  store 
that  sells  shirt  collars,  tells  you  he  does  not  keep  tho 
G.  P.  E.  C.,  leave  that  store — that  man  is  behind  the  age, 
and  will  never  be  up  to  the  times  until  he  keeps  for  salo 
that  which  is  to  every  man  a  convenience,  and  economy  to 
buy. 

WM.  E.  LOCKWOOD, 

Sole  owner  of  and  Manufacturer  under  the  following  Patents : 

GENTS'  PATENT  ENAMELED  COLLAR, 

Hunt's  Patent,  July  25,  1354. 

T-A.GJ-S, 

Sharps'  Patent,  June  15,  1852. 

a»i^*iwa  |afe»t  <8l*rfro  Collars  and  djafs, 

Lockwood's  Patent,  April  26th,  1859. 

ALSO,    MANUFACTURER    OP 

NECK-TIE    ADJUSTERS, 

(PATENT  APPLIED  FOR,)  and 

Office   No.  336    Chestirut  Street, 

First  door  below  Jayne's  Building, 

PHILADELPHIA. 


Style— No.  8  English  B. 


$&•_  WHOLE  SALE 
Circulars  containing  full  particulars,  sent  on  application. 


MORNING  CALL.  GIN  COCKTAIL. 

MINT  JULEP.  WHISKEY  COCKTAIL. 

BRANDY  SMASH.  BRANDY  COCKTAIL 

CURACAO.  BONNE  SANTE. 

PINE  OLD  JAMAICA  PINE-APPLE  RUM  PUNCH. 
FINE  OLD  EAST  INDIA  ARRAC  PUNCH. 

"OLD  TOM"  LONDON  CORDIAL  GIN. 

ROYAL  WINDSOR  WINE  AND  STOMACH  BITTERS. 

In  cases  containing  one  dozen  quart  bottles. 


THESE  Liqueurs  will  be  found  superior  to  the  unmeaning  French 
ind  other  imported  Liqueurs,  as  they  possess  distinctive  characteristics. 

The  COCKTAILS  are  prepared  from  the  finest  vegetable  Tonics 
and  Alteratives,  and  in  all  cases  the  Liquors  used  are  genuine ;  thus 
combining  a  healthful  as  well  as  agreeable  beverage. 

The  CURACAO  is  pronounced  by  the  best  judges  "  ne  plus  ultra" 
It  is  prepared  from  the  same  ingredients,  and  with  an  equal  amount 
of  skill,  as  the  imported,  is  sold  at  half  the  price,  and  is  put  in  a 
bottle  unlike  the  foreign,  as  it  is  the  Proprietor's  desire  the  article 
should  stand  on  its  own  merits  as  an  American  product. 

The  MORNING-  CALL—  Tonic,  Diuretic,  Alterative,  and  Anti-dys 
peptic — is  the  finest  and  purest  STOMACH  BITTER  in  the  world — of 
great  value  to  ladies  or  children  in  delicate  health.  It  is  a  Liqueur 
Hygienique  d'apres  Raspail. 

In  fact,  the  Proprietor  challenges  the  world  to  produce  finer  or  more 
agreeable  Liqueurs  than  the  above. 

Sold  by  Wholesale  Liquor  and  Grocery  Dealers  in  New  York  and 
all  the  large  cities  in  the  Union— Retail  everywhere. 

DEPOT,  37  SOUTH  WILLIAM  STREET, 

NEW    YORK. 

Agents  for  Van  Brunt's  Aromatic  Schiedam  Schnapps 


GHIFFEN    &    ACKEN, 

Importers  and  Jobbers  o/ 

FANCY    GOODS, 

AND 

YANKEE    MOTIONS, 

Combs,  Buttons,  Brushes,  Perfumery,  Pins,  Needles,  Per 
cussion  Caps,  Whips,  Portemonnaies,  Carpet  Bags, 
Jewelry,  Wood  and  Willow  Ware,  &c., 

No,  80  WARREN  STREET,  NEW  YORK. 

HENEY  GRIFFEN.  WM.  H.  ACKEN. 

BYRD  &   HALL, 

Ulamiktem  anb  ISjwIesale  gtalers  m 

Umbrellas  and  Parasols. 

WAREHOUSE, 

No.  12  Warren  Street, 

NEAR    BROADWAY, 

NEW     YOKK. 

€EOKGE  J.  BYKD.  ALVAH  HALL. 


14 


LOAN  DEPT 


LD2lA-40m-8,'71 
(P6572slO)476-A-32 


Universit 

Berkeley 


GENERAL  LIBRARY  -U.C.  BERKELEY 


